Central Piedmont IBA Survey Summary

In order to raise awareness of the Central Piedmont IBA and to collect a base level of data for the IBA’s bird species, the Virginia IBA Program conducted a citizen science-based survey of the IBA this past May. Due to the size of the IBA, we chose to limit our survey to the IBA’s protected areas, which include two State Forests, three State Parks, and four State Wildlife Management Areas among other locations. Volunteers were assigned to a protected area or portion thereof and were encouraged to use as much time as needed to cover their survey territory’s trails. Participants recorded all bird species seen or heard, their numbers, and obvious evidences of breeding such as fledglings, courtship, and the carrying of food or fecal sacs. We did not include singing males as obvious breeding evidence.

Altogether our survey totaled 112 species within the Central Piedmont IBA, around 90 of which are most likely regular breeders. Clear breeding evidence was seen for 25 species, including four of our target species: Prairie Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and Field Sparrow. Our three top species counts within the IBA were Red-eyed Vireo with 372 individuals reported, Indigo Bunting with 204, and Ovenbird with 178. Rounding out the Top 10 were Tufted Titmouse, American Crow, Prairie Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal and Common Grackle. In contrast to these abundant species, only one individual was recorded for 19 species, including migrating Canada Warbler and Bay-breasted Warbler. Rarities for the Piedmont included a probable Black-crowned Night-Heron, a Black-billed Cuckoo, and a pair of American Woodcock at James River State Park; 10 Red-headed Woodpeckers, including 8 within the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest; 1 Alder Flycatcher which was seen and heard (both song and call) at the James River Wildlife Management Area.

With regards to our target species of conservation concern, the Prairie Warbler was recorded as our sixth-most detected species, with 118 individuals. Seeing that only a small proportion of the Central Piedmont IBA was surveyed, this likely means that the IBA contains a continentally significant number of this threatened species. Other target species detected in good numbers included 49 Wood Thrush and 42 Field Sparrow. Unfortunately, only 15 Louisiana Waterthrush and 12 Kentucky Warbler were recorded despite an abundance of proper habitat. Thankfully we did find clear evidence that these species are still breeding within the IBA territory. Lastly, we recorded less than 10 Northern Bobwhite and Grasshopper Sparrow and not a single Eastern Meadowlark. While these results are disappointing, we feel that these low totals are a result of our survey methods. Future studies in the Central Piedmont IBA should include roadside surveys in order to cover the IBA’s significant amount of early successional habitats, including fallow fields. A few of our survey participants chose to do some of their own road birding within the IBA on the way to or from their assigned protected areas and they were able to detect 40 Eastern Meadowlark and 17 Grasshopper Sparrows over the small areas they birded. These reports indicate that these species are definitely present within the IBA, but we must use different survey techniques in order to detect them.

For more information on A1/B1 Species of Conservation Concern or Common Birds in Decline, please visit: http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/criteria.html#P36_3207 and http://stateofthebirds.audubon.org/cbid/browseSpecies.php. For more details regarding the Virginia IBA Program or this specific survey, including a technical report that is being developed, please contact David Bryan at dbryan.audubon@gmail.com.


David Bryan, Outreach Coordinator, Virginia IBA Program