Last weekend I was at one of Georgia’s 48 Important Bird Areas (IBAs), the Joe Kurz Wildlife Management Area in Meriwether County. Audubon Society volunteers spent the day there pulling up non-native privet, checking on bird boxes and performing other chores to make it a haven for birds.
The aim at Joe Kurz is to restore native grasslands to entice grassland-loving species such as sparrows, meadowlarks and bobwhite quail. The populations of many of these species have plummeted in recent years as grasslands have given way to development, croplands and other disturbances.
The IBA program, in general, is in response to such habitat loss and degradation, said Charlie Muise, who manages Georgia’s IBA program.
The state’s IBAs now cover 2 million acres of grasslands, swamps, hardwood forests, pinelands and other habitats. Each IBA is deemed “critically important” for providing essential year-round breeding and feeding habitats for a variety of birds.
Georgia’s IBA program is part of a global effort created more than a decade ago to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other wildlife. The project is a partnership of the state’s eight Audubon societies and the National Audubon Society.
IBAs may be a few acres or thousands of acres, but usually they are discrete sites that stand out from the surrounding landscape. They may include public or private lands, or both, and they may be protected or unprotected.
Georgia‘s IBAs include the Okefenokee Swamp, Jekyll Island, Ivylog Mountain Area, Kennesaw National Battlefield Park, Fort Stewart, Harris Neck National Wildlife and others.
At Joe Kurz WMA, Muise and other people have worked for years to restore several dozen acres of grasslands by reseeding old fields and other areas with bluestem, Indian grass, poverty oatgrass and other native grasses. They have removed non-natives such as Johnson grass, Bermuda grass and privet by herbicide application and controlled burning. Dense, nearly intractable tangles of wisteria vines also have been erased.
“It was wisteria hell in some places,“ Muise said. “We had to bring in a bulldozer to remove it.”
Since the restoration started, Muise has reported seeing a significant increase in several grassland species, including vesper, field, song, Savannah and Lincoln sparrows. Particularly gratifying is the presence of another bird of open areas, the loggerhead shrike.
Some species, though, still are missing. “I can’t wait for the day when Eastern meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows return here,” Muise said.
More information: http://www.atlantaaudubon.org/iba/index.htm.
IN THE SKY: The moon will be new on Tuesday. By Wednesday, it will be a thin crescent low in the west, said David Dundee, astronomer with Tellus Science Museum. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter are low in the east just before dawn. Venus rises out of the east about three hours before sunrise and will appear near the moon on Sunday morning. Saturn rises out of the east at dark and is visible throughout the night.
