The Scioto Audubon Metro Park is housed in the Scioto River-Greenlawn Important Bird Area (IBA). This designation requires us to protect and enhance the ecosystem to sustain critical bird species.

The Important Bird Area (IBA) program is a global initiative started by Birdlife International in the mid-1980’s that quickly spread to every continent. In the United States, National Audubon Society launched the Important Bird Area program in 1995. The main goal: to identify, monitor and protect a strategic global network of IBA’s that can focus bird management around priority sites.

The first step in the process is identifying these areas. To do this, a series of scientifically sound criteria were developed. In general, a site must have one of the following. 1) It holds a significant number of high conservation priority species 2) It holds range-restricted species that are vulnerable because their populations are not widely distributed. 3) The site holds species that specialize in one specific habitat type or biome. 4) The site is important because it supports species that are vulnerable because they congregate in large numbers. 

Once identified, IBA’s are further prioritized as a Global, Continental or State level site. To date in the United States, over 2,676 Important Bird Areas have been identified, equaling almost 370 million acres. Of these, 596 are of global significance and 13 are of continental significance. The Ohio IBA program began in 1999 and 66 state level IBA’s have been identified.

Our Urban IBA

The Scioto-Greenlawn IBA encompasses a three-mile stretch of the Scioto River from the I-70/71 bridge south to Berliner Park, including a dam-produced basin, a seasonal mudflat, and rocky riffles. At least 212 bird species have been recorded at this IBA, more than any other stretch of the Scioto River. It provides habitat for Neotropical songbirds, is a migrant hub for warblers, and is historically a nesting site for Prothonotary Warblers. The Scioto -Greenlawn IBA has historical importance as a breeding area for Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, a high conservation priority species. It also provides habitat for high priority species that use riparian corridors such as the Pied-billed Grebe, American Bittern, Northern Pintail, Osprey, at least 10 species of gulls and terns, Northern Waterthrush, and many other warbler species.