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Important Bird and Birding Areas
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Burden Hill
Salem CountyCoordinates: N 39.51843
W 75.34726
Site Map Piedmont Plains: New England / Mid-Atlantic CoastArea: 20,128 Acres Habitat: Primarily mixed upland forest with a shrub-scrub, grassland and tidal wetlandsSite Description: This 15,000-acre oak-pine forest is considered by some to be an outlying remnant of the Pine Barrens ecological community. This relatively contiguous forest block spans Alloway, Quinton and Lower Alloway Creek Townships in Salem County and includes the riparian habitats surrounding portions of Alloway and Stow Creeks. Most of the IBA is privately-owned but several nonprofit organizations and land trusts have partnered to protect thousands of acres.IBA Criteria:
| Criterion | Species |
| Conservation Concern – State-endangered (B) | Bald Eagle |
| Significant Congregations | |
| Significant Migrant Stopover/Flyover (FM, SM) | Landbirds |
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| Migrating songbirds | John Parke |
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Birds: State-endangered Bald Eagles and state-threatened Red-headed Woodpeckers and Barred Owls regularly breed in the forested habitats of Burden Hill. As the largest forested area in Salem County, this site is also an important stopover for spring and fall migrants as they move through the Delaware Bayshore region to their breeding or wintering grounds.Conservation: The health of Burden Hill’s forests is primarily threatened by an overabundant deer population and residential development. The once strictly rural character of this region is experiencing increased development pressure from Wilmington and Philadelphia. The resulting decline in farmland and loss of habitat led the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF), the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program, Natural Lands Trust (NLT) and other organizations to target Burden Hill for preservation and conservation. NJCF has focused its efforts on the southern portion of the forest, Green Acres on the northern and southwestern portion and NLT in the middle portion. NLT’s Burden Hill Preserve spans 600 acres. In partnership with Green Acres, NJCF has preserved 2000 acres through expansion of Thundergut Pond, Maskells Mill Pond and Stow Creek Wildlife Management Areas and the 615-acre Burden Hill Forest Preserve. NJCF has also organized the Mid-Atlantic Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership involving several landowners in the area.Additional Information: Site Report
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| Mixed species forest | John Parke |
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