RRWC, Michigan

Migratory Bird Stopover Site Attributes in the Western Lake Erie Basin

An excerpt from the Executive Summary of the Report:

"The western Lake Erie basin provides important stopover sites for all groups of migratory birds: waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, other landbirds, and waterbirds (loons, grebes, cormorants, herons, rails, cranes, gulls and terns). The landscape has been dramatically altered from presettlement conditions yet the region remains important for birds to rest and feed so they can continue their migration in good physiological condition. Unfortunately, habitat loss in the region continues, potentially jeopardizing the ability of birds to maintain sufficient condition to successfully complete their migration. Consequently, it is critical and urgent to define, protect, restore, and better manage migratory bird stopover sites in the western Lake Erie basin.

In this report, we (1) identify and summarize ecological and spatial attributes of migratory bird stopover sites in the United States portion of the western Lake Erie basin based on the literature and unpublished sources, and (2) outline a system for ranking the relative conservation importance of migratory bird stopover sites in the western Lake Erie basin that may also be useful elsewhere in the Great Lakes region and beyond. Application of this system may be especially useful for those seeking to optimize conservation of stopover sites for all groups of birds."

The stopover habitat modeling project described in the report produced a map of habitat for migratory birds in three categories: waterfowl, shorebirds, and landbirds + raptors and scored each habitat patch using the criteria described.  It also combines the ranking for each group into an "all bird" habitat rating.  The map to the right shows the habitat rating for this "all bird" category.  The highest priority habitat occurs along the lakeshore but, across all the inland area, the upper Raisin watershed clearly stands out.  From this map, it is apparent that the upper Raisin must be very important for birds migrating through the basin (colors denote priority of habitat from low to high: dark green - light green - yellow - orange - red).  The Upper Raisin has more orange than any other inland area.