Niagara Gorge Important Bird Area

The Important Bird Area program began in Europe around 1985, and the United States and Canada joined it in 1996 to identify and conserve a global network of sites important to birds for feeding, nesting, and migration. In December 1996, Canada and the United States designated the 32-mile Niagara River corridor as an Important Bird Area, making it the first binational Important Bird Area because of its global significance to North American bird populations. The river provides resting and feeding areas along a major migration flyway, and birds wintering in Western New York can find protection within the corridor when fierce winter storms strike the Great Lakes. Changes in bird populations also help scientists gauge the health of the surrounding ecosystem, making monitoring of the Niagara River corridor important to scientists and bird enthusiasts, while protection of this habitat depends on continued cooperation among government agencies, private interest groups, and the public. The gorge supports Peregrine Falcons, whose hunting style is suited to the area, and tens of thousands of Bonaparte's Gulls gather annually along the lower Niagara River during migration on journeys from Alaska and northern Canada to the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico, with local counts showing that 60% of their population uses the corridor. Bald Eagles have also been seen in the gorge, and Navy Island upstream from Niagara Falls is a popular late-winter stopping point during migration. Songbirds use habitat along the river's edge, while the river is especially known for waterfowl, with 25 species of waterfowl and 19 species of gulls using it in yearly numbers reaching the hundreds of thousands; the rapids supply abundant fish stunned by the current, and the forested rock walls provide nesting places for many birds, including the endangered Peregrine Falcon.

Niagara Falls, New York · United States