What is the Kickapoo Bird Habitat Initiative (KBHI)?
We are a partnership of Valley Stewardship Network, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, Mississippi Valley Conservancy, the Ho-Chunk Nation, Wildcat Mountain State Park, the Wisconsin DNR, and Audubon. Our organizations are working together to achieve a single goal: to promote and protect bird habitat in and around the Kickapoo-Wildcat Important Bird Area.
The mission of this partnership is to increase awareness and engage landowners in conservation practices for birds within the Kickapoo-Wildcat Important Bird Area.
Vision Statement:
A healthy landscape of diverse native habitats and farmlands that support sustainable populations of birds, and provides an enriched quality of life for all who live, work, and play here.
What is an Important Bird Area?
An Important Bird Area, or IBA, is an area that has been identified by the Wisconsin DNR, the National Audubon Society, and BirdLife International as providing essential habitat for bird conservation in the State of Wisconsin, including species of concern. Some are visited by high numbers of migrating birds. Kickapoo-Wildcat Important Bird Area.
Did you know…?
- The population of North American birds has dropped by 30% since 1970 – a loss of nearly 3 billion birds with habitat loss as a key cause.
- The Driftless Area is important for resident and migratory species, as it bridges a forest habitat gap in the upper midwest, and preservation of this habitat is needed.
- The Kickapoo-Wildcat Important Bird Area (KVR-WM IBA) falls within a Conservation Opportunity Area of Continental Importance.
- Thirteen bird species considered rare in Wisconsin, including Louisiana Waterthrush and Kentucky Warbler, breed within the Important Bird Area
- 209 species of birds, both resident and migratory, have been found within the Important Bird Area.
- Driftless forests, including those found in the Kickapoo Valley, support the highest concentrations of Cerulean Warblers and Wood Thrushes in the Upper Midwest. Both species are high conservation priorities.
- Golden Eagles from Canada’s Hudson Bay spend the winter within the Important Bird Area.
- The Kickapoo Valley’s Scarlet Tanagers winter on the rugged eastern slopes of the South American Andes, while the valley’s Baltimore Orioles and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds spend the winter in Central American forests in the company of Howler Monkeys.
Join the team as a citizen scientist!
You can become a part of the Kickapoo Bird Habitat Initiative by submitting your bird observations through eBird. Simply log into your account, submit a checklist as usual, but on the last page before submitting, share your checklist to the “Kickapoo Bird Habitat Initiative” account. By typing the Initiative name into the “share checklist” textbox, eBird will share your checklist with us and you will be contributing important information on the birds that use our unique landscape!
KBHI Partners:
Mississippi Valley Conservancy
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
KBHI Supporters:
Contact Information:
Kickapoo Bird Habitat Initiative
110 S. Main Street, Viroqua, WI 54665
phone: 608.637.3615
email: [email protected]
website: KickapooBirdHabitatInitiative.com
Mississippi Valley Conservancy contact:
Connor Kotte
[email protected]
Gallery photos below are courtesy of Allen Blake Sheldon. All rights reserved.
