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October 24, 2003
Beatty bird story
By RICHARD STEPHENS The brochure will contain a checklist of the scores of species known to frequent the area, and can be used by bird watchers to keep a record of the birds they have sighted. Beatty residents have always enjoyed the amazing variety of birds that inhabit the area or use the area's water sources and trees to rest a bit during migration. But now that abundance of feathered wildlife has earned the area a somewhat prestigious recognition. The Lahontan Audubon Society has designated Beatty and the Oasis Valley as an Important Bird Area. Noting that the Society has no regulatory authority of function, Don McIver, the Nevada Director of Bird Conservation, said the group will seek to work to educate local landowners and others and to encourage land management that will benefit the birds and residents alike. The IBA Technical Committee, made up of experts from throughout the state cited a number of qualifying factors that supported the designation. First of all, the area "supports significant densities of 21 or more priority bird species identified in the Nevada partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plan," and "Yellow-billed Cuckoos, a species whose habitat is in precipitous decline in many parts of its range." Because of the number of springs in the area and the Amargosa River, the area also "harbors an assemblage of species characteristic of riparian areas, which are otherwise rare throughout Nevada," along with It 80-100 species of migratory land birds. The Society also noted a "significant single species concentration of Wilson's Warblers, which exceed 10,000 individuals during spring migration," and at least half as many MacGillivray's and Common Yellowthroat warblers. In the letter to Beatty Habitat Committee representative Shirley Harlan concluded, "The site is further noteworthy for bird research opportunities, particularly for migration monitoring, for bird specific education opportunities, for habitat restoration opportunities, and for the remarkable interest and support shown by the community of Beatty." |
