Migratory Stopover Habitat

Illinois Coastal Stopover Tool

Among some of the most important and dangerous stopover regions in North America is the Illinois Coastal Region. The Great Lakes coastline as a whole is home to major stopovers for a considerable number of migrating landbirds, where they have to rest and refuel both before and after crossing massive bodies of water. These regions are also commonly faced with threats created by human development including buildings, light pollution, invasive species, habitat loss. In addtion, North America has lost nearly 3 billion breeding birds over the past five decades, representing hundreds of migratory and non-migratory species. These far-reaching population declines have been seen across habitats and bird types, including some of our most common bird species.

In an effort to safeguard migratory birds in the Illinois Coastal region, Audubon Great Lakes launched the new Illinois Coastal Stopover Tool that will help to identify areas with high quality habitats for migratory landbirds, threats they face, and opportunities for restoration within the Illinois Coastal Region. Additionally, Audubon provides migratory habitat management recommendations to support the dedicated land managers working to improve habitat and support migratory bird conservation in the region. The tool inlcudes maps, priority locations, priority species and management resources and recommendations for land managers at the landscape-scale, local-scale, and for specific habitat types including woodland, grassland and shrubland within the Illinois Coastal Region.

EXPLORE the Illinois Coastal Stopover Tool

Spring and fall migration are both critical and highly vulnerable periods of life for hundreds of North American bird species. Globally, migratory birds are more likely to decline in population than non-migratory species, and migration itself can be disproportionately more deadly than the rest of a bird’s life cycle. Migratory birds are considered more vulnerable in part, because they require multiple habitats throughout the year for nesting, migratory stopover, and wintering grounds. With multiple habitats being used, sometimes over great distances, there is a much higher chance of loss and/or degradation than if they were to stay in one location.

Migratory stopover sites are locations where birds pause along their migratory journeys to rest and refuel before resuming their flights and are increasingly important for migratory bird conservation. For these reasons, better understanding of migratory stopover use and proper management is a high priority for bird conservation. To prioritize stopover habitats effectively, management will need to adaptively prepare for, respond to, or help mitigate the numerous threats facing migratory landbirds, where possible.

This project is funded by the IL DNR Coastal Program and NOAA.