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Important Bird and Birding Areas
Arthur Kill Complex and Tributaries

IBBA Site Guide

44
Middlesex and Union Counties
Coordinates: N 40.60108
W 74.25098
Site Map
Piedmont Plains: Piedmont

Area: 5,165 Acres     

Habitat: Primarily tidal salt marsh and nontidal freshwater wetlands; open waters of Arthur Kill and adjacent upland forests

Site Description: This IBA runs the entire length of the Arthur Kill with habitats including a narrow saltwater channel separating New Jersey from Staten Island; a contiguous habitat area on the northwest corner of Staten Island; extensive tidal and nontidal marshes; associated upland forests and several tributaries including the Elizabeth, Rahway and Woodbridge Rivers, and the Moses, Piles and Smith Creeks. This site also includes Union County Parks. The Arthur Kill Complex is extremely important as it provides some of the only remaining open space in this highly urbanized region.

IBA Criteria:
CriterionSpecies
Conservation Concern – Federally-endangered; State-endangered (B)Least Tern
Conservation Concern – State-endangered (B)American Bittern, Northern Harrier, Peregrine Falcon, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-shouldered Hawk
Conservation Concern – State-threatened (B)Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Conservation Concern – State-threatened (SM)Red Knot
Significant Congregations (B)Water Birds
Significant Congregations (W)Waterfowl
Long-term Research/Monitoring
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night HeronMichael Hogan
 
Birds: Approximately 25% of all wading birds that breed in coastal NJ occur within the Arthur Kill Complex. Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Glossy Ibises, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Little Blue Herons breed at the site’s three island rookeries and utilize a diversity of wetland habitat types for foraging. Large numbers of breeding Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls also occur here. State-endangered birds breeding at Arthur Kill include Red-shouldered Hawks, American Bitterns, Pied-billed Grebes, Peregrine Falcons, Northern Harriers and Least Terns. Wintering waterfowl include Greater and Lesser Scaup, Canvasbacks, Brant, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Buffleheads and American Wigeons. The freshwater wetland areas and forested buffers provide feeding and roosting areas for waterbirds and migratory stopover habitat for many species of songbirds and raptors. During spring migration, shorebirds including Pectoral Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings and state-threatened Red Knots forage within the tidal mudflats.

Conservation: The Arthur Kill Complex and its tributaries occur in one of the most urbanized areas of the northeastern United States. Habitat degradation from surrounding activities is a constant threat. Declining habitat quantity and quality can be attributed to chemical and nutrient pollution, stormwater and sewage discharge, stream channelization (and other changes in water flow), illegal filling and dumping activities, fragmentation, invasive species, mammalian predators, poorly planned development and other activities. Many conservation organizations including NJ Conservation Foundation (NJCF), NJ Audubon Society (NJAS), Trust for Public Land, and American Littoral Society have partnered with government agencies, local communities and private landowners to address these issues. NJCF and the NJAS conducted an inventory of the river and stream corridor in 1990. NJCF used this information to develop the Arthur Kill Greenways Tributaries Greenway Project and published Greenways to the Arthur Kill. This document identified priority wildlife habitats requiring protection and mapped potential greenways to protect the area’s resources. NJCF and other organizations have since worked to create a network of protected areas along the Arthur Kill. While many areas of this IBA are in public ownership and in need of appropriate management, many of the identified critical habitats are still privately held and need to be prioritized for conservation and/or acquisition.

Additional Information: Site Report
Wading bird rookery
Wading bird rookeryLinda Brazaitis