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Important Bird and Birding Areas
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Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area
Cape May CountyCoordinates: N 38.95508
W 74.95651
Delaware Bay: New England / Mid-Atlantic CoastArea: 1,582 Acres Habitat: Primarily mixed upland forest with shrub-scrub, tidal and nontidal wetlandsSite Description: Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in the northwest corner of Cape Island, just south of the Cape May Canal. The site’s forested wetland, salt marsh, mixed upland forest and scrub-shrub habitats were purchased by the state in 1978 with federal funds for the protection of endangered and threatened species habitat. Higbee Beach WMA protects the last remaining dune forest along the Delaware Bay shoreline and is recognized as critical stopover habitat for migratory birds. This IBA is contained within the Cape May Corridor Natural Heritage Priority Macrosite and the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge Natural Heritage Priority Site. Designated by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Natural Heritage Priority Sites are considered the state’s most significant natural areas.IBA Criteria:
| Criterion | Species |
| Conservation Concern – State-endangered (B) | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| Regional Responsibility Species - BCR 30 Scrub-shrub/Barrens (B) | Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Prairie Warbler |
| Regional Responsibility Species - BCR 30 Mixed Upland Forest (B) | Baltimore Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, Blue Jay, Boat-tailed Grackle, Carolina Chickadee, Chimney Swift, Common Grackle, Gray Catbird, Mallard, Northern Flicker, Tufted Titmouse, Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
| Significant Migrant Stopover/Flyover (FM) | Landbirds, Raptors |
| Significant Migrant Stopover/Flyover (SM) | Shorebirds |
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| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Jim Gilbert |
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Birds: Higbee Beach WMA provides incredibly important stopover habitat for migrating landbirds moving through the Atlantic flyway during spring and fall. In particular, migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, American Woodcocks and Neotropical migrants rest and forage at Higbee WMA. Concentrations of raptors including Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Cooper's Hawks, Northern Harriers, Ospreys, Red-tailed Hawks, Merlins, Broad-winged Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Red-shouldered Hawks and Peregrine Falcons, benefit from similar concentrations of their passerine prey. On any spring or fall morning, Indigo Buntings, White-eyed Vireos, Carolina Wrens, Yellow-breasted Chats, Yellow Warblers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and other species begin feeding after a night of migrating. Delaware Bay beaches are a critical spring staging ground for migratory shorebirds including Ruddy Turnstones, state-threatened Red Knots, state-special concern Sanderlings and Semipalmated Sandpipers. This site also provides breeding habitat for a suite of mixed upland forest birds and state-endangered Red-shouldered Hawks.Conservation: Prior to its purchase in 1978, Higbee Beach was slated for development as a campground. While the area is now protected, the adjacent privately-owned habitats are under intense pressure from development. Development destroys, degrades and fragments habitat which leads to water quality declines, expansion of invasive plants, pressure on groundwater resources and increased disturbance to nesting, foraging and migrating birds. Early successional habitats, including scrub-shrub, are especially threatened by intensive land uses and succession to forest. Maintaining priority habitats for migratory and forest birds will also protect habitats for the majority of rare breeding bird populations in the area. Higbee Beach WMA is currently managed by NJDEP’s Bureau of Land Management for endangered, threatened and nongame wildlife. The IBA’s trails and viewing platforms are heavily used by eager birders throughout the spring and fall migration events. NJ Audubon Society conducts several research projects in the area including the Morning Flight which records the directed and often visible movement of migrant songbirds in the first few hours after sunrise.Additional Information: Site Report
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| Beachfront scrub-shrub habitat | Michael Hogan |
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