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Important Bird Areas in Washington State

With the assistance of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Audubon began identifying Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Washington in 1998. In June 2001, we published Important Bird Areas of Washington, a 170-page directory describing the first 53 IBAs in our state (see links below for online version).

An Important Bird Area is a site, terrestrial or aquatic, that provides essential habitat for one or more species of birds during breeding, wintering, and/or migration. The purpose of Audubon’s IBA program is to identify sites essential to maintaining naturally occurring populations of birds, and to protect or manage those sites for long-term conservation.

As with all IBA programs, Washington’s IBAs were chosen carefully, using standard biological criteria and expert ornithologists’ review.

Limited bound copies of Important Bird Areas of Washington are available to libraries, educational institutions, scientists, land use planners, land managers, and employees of local, state, and federal land management agencies by written request.

Audubon Washington is now in its second round of IBA identification. Our IBAs need you! Click here for a list of opportunities or contact Audubon Washington’s Director of Science and Bird Conservation Tim Cullinan.

Region 1—Introduction, Criteria, Conservation and Pacific Coast (617kb PDF)

Region 2—Western Lowlands (670kb PDF)

Region 3—Cascade Mountains (592kb PDF)

Region 4—Columbia Basin (638KB PDF)

What’s Next?
Information on existing IBAs is currently being updated and entered in the Audubon Important Bird Areas Database, a central directory of Important Bird Areas throughout the U.S. Through the Audubon Important Bird Areas web pages, land owners and managers, planners, and the public can now find information about Important Bird Areas across the country using the IBA Search tool. In addition, a list of information about Important Bird Areas in Washington can be viewed through the Washington IBA Program State Profile page. The availability of these IBA data to partners and the public will greatly facilitate the use of information for conservation planning.