Press Release/Communiqué
Prince
Edward Point Recognized as Globally Significant
Important Bird Area (IBA)
May 16th, 1998 (Prince
Edward Point, Ontario)
Prince
Edward Point has received international recognition today as
a globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) and
will join BirdLife International's global network
of IBA sites. To celebrate, the Prince Edward County
Field Naturalists (PECFN) are hosting their second
annual Prince Edward County Birding Festival on Saturday,
May 16th and the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory
will be hosting a banding demonstration and media
day to further promote the area and their work on
May 30th.
Three species,
Greater Scaup, Oldsquaw, and White-winged Scoter occur
in globally significant numbers exceeding 1% of the
North American population. "The shoals and deep
waters off the tip of the peninsula are an extremely
important waterfowl staging and wintering area, particularly
for diving and sea ducks" states Jeff Robinson,
National Wildlife Area Manager at the Canadian Wildlife
Service. "The number and diversity of landbirds
that concentrate at Prince Edward Point during spring
and fall migration is also outstanding" adds
Julie Gelfand, Executive Director of the Canadian
Nature Federation. "A total of 162 landbird species
have been recorded at this site including 36 species
of wood warbler, 20 species of sparrow, and 12 species
of flycatcher" states Ms. Gelfand.
Prince
Edward Point was designated as a National Wildlife
Area by the Canadian Wildlife Service in 1980, and
an International Monarch Butterfly Reserve in 1995.
A spring migration monitoring station was established
in 1995 by Brian Joyce and Eric Machell to continue
the conservation efforts started by the Kingston Field
Naturalists and the CWS in declaring the point a National
Wildlife Area. One of the main goals of the Bird Observatory
is to become a recognized Migration Monitoring Station
in the North American network of banding operations
co-ordinated by Bird Studies Canada. Since 1995, the
Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory has banded nearly
9,000 birds of over 110 species. Along with the observatory,
several naturalist groups, including the Kingston
Field Naturalists and the PECFN have been instrumental
in conserving the natural diversity of the area.
On Saturday,
May 16th the PECFN will host their second annual Prince
Edward County Birding Festival. A guided birding tour
will take place at the National Wildlife Area between
7–11AM. To continue celebrations, the Prince
Edward Point Bird Observatory will be hosting a media
day and banding demonstration for the public at the
banding station on May 30th.
The Important
Bird Areas (IBA) program's primary goal is to identify
and conserve habitats critical for the long term survival
of bird populations. The IBA program is a very successful
conservation initiative of BirdLife International
and its partners worldwide. The program's impact can
been seen in Europe, where the number of IBAs protected
has increased from 25 percent to over 50 percent between
1989 and 1995. IBA programs are currently underway
in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, North, South
and Central Americas. The Canadian IBA Program is
spearheaded by the Canadian Nature Federation and
Bird Studies Canada, the BirdLife partners in Canada.
For more
information, contact:
Christie
Chute, IBA Outreach Coordinator, Canadian Nature Federation
(613) 562-3447
Myrna Wood, President, Prince Edward County Field
Naturalists (613) 476-1506
Jeff Robinson, NWA Manager, Canadian Wildlife Service
(519) 472-6695
Brian Joyce, Prince Edward Point Banding Station (905)
728-3507
Web address:
Prince Edward Point NWA: http://cciw.ca/green-lane/wildlife/conservation/protected
space/nwareas/prince-edward/;
Prince
Edward Point Birding Festival
