Audubon, FMR team to count birds at Flint Hills Resources

Everyone knows that the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities is an important corridor for migrating birds — and now there will be numbers to back that up.

Designated by Minnesota Audubon as an Important Bird Area (IBA), 38 miles of the river and adjacent floodplains and forests from Minneapolis to Hastings contain over 37,000 acres of water and land. An estimated 40% of North Americas shorebirds and waterfowl migrate through the Mississippi Flyway.

Mark Martell, Director of Bird Conservation for Minnesota Audubon, says volunteering Flint Hills Resources employees at a bluffland restoration project coordinated by FMR will be among the first trained in a new scientifically valid protocol that will document the species and numbers of birds in the IBA and, over the years, help identify trends. Special emphasis will be placed on counts during the spring and fall migrating periods.

For more information about Minnesota Audubons Important Bird Area Program, visit their program web page.