{"id":531,"date":"2011-12-30T20:45:15","date_gmt":"2011-12-30T20:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aziba.org\/?page_id=531"},"modified":"2025-11-01T12:42:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T19:42:50","slug":"lower-salt-and-gila-rivers-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aziba.org\/?page_id=531","title":{"rendered":"Lower Salt and Gila Rivers Ecosystem \u263c \u25ca"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lower-salt-river-diversionary-dam\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Global IBA for Yuma\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Ridgeway’s Rail and Neotropical Cormorant<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Continental IBA for Abert’s Towhee,\u00a0Yuma<\/strong><\/em> Ridgeway’s<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Rail and Long-billed Curlew<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Site Steward:<\/em><\/strong> Sonoran Audubon<\/a> and Audubon Southwest<\/p>\n

Size: <\/i><\/b>57.3 square miles, 36,645 acres<\/p>\n

Identified: <\/i><\/b>07\/2002. Recognized: 03\/2008. Global\/Continental: 10\/2011<\/p>\n

Visiting the IBA:<\/i><\/b> <\/b>Arlington Wildlife area is on the west bank of the Gila River approximately 3-1\/2 miles south of Arlington and 15 miles southwest of Buckeye in Maricopa County, Arizona.<\/p>\n

Arlington Wildlife Area \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a>, Base & Meridian Wildlife Area \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a>, Gillespie Dam Bridge \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a>, Robbins Butte Wildlife Area \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a>, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands \u2013 Maricopa Trail \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a><\/p>\n

Ownership:<\/i><\/b> <\/b>Arizona Game and Fish, Arizona Lands State Trust, Maricopa County Regional Park, and Bureau of Land Management.\"Lower<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a><\/span><\/strong>Site Description:<\/i><\/b> <\/b>The IBA is the Salt River from 83rd Avenue, connecting with the Gila River at 115th<\/sup> Avenue and extending west and south along the Gila River to Gillespie Dam. The Gila River has perennial flow that is from treated effluent from the City of Phoenix and other communities, excess agriculture water, and from natural ground water. This IBA includes Arlington, B&M, Powers Butte and Robbins Butte Arizona Game and Fish Wildlife Areas managed for birds and wildlife. The Tres Rios Nature Festival is held in March to celebrate the birds and other wildlife and their habitats. The fish community here is considered to be one of the most abundant in Arizona and consequently, fish-eating birds are found here in high numbers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Long-billed<\/a>

Long-billed Curlew with crab by Matthew Paulson<\/p><\/div>\n

Birds:<\/i><\/b> <\/b>The area has rich productivity of plant growth due to perennial supply of nutrient laden waters.<\/p>\n

Year-round:<\/span><\/i> <\/i>Gambel\u2019s Quail, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Greater Roadrunner, Burrowing Owl, Gila Woodpecker, Abert\u2019s Towhee, Northern Cardinal, and Phainopepla.<\/p>\n

Breeding:<\/span><\/i> <\/i>Yuma Ridgeway’s Rails, White-tailed Kite, Lesser Nighthawk, Anna\u2019s Hummingbird, Summer Tanager, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow Warbler, Lucy\u2019s Warbler.<\/p>\n

Migration:<\/span><\/i> <\/i>Swainson\u2019s Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Cassin\u2019s Vireo, Wilson\u2019s Warbler.<\/p>\n

Winter<\/span><\/i>: <\/i>Northern Harrier, Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon Osprey, Black-crowned Night Heron, Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Sora, Long-billed Curlew, Greater Yellowlegs, Costa\u2019s Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warbler.<\/p>\n

eBird focus<\/i><\/b> species:<\/i>Yuma\u00a0Ridgeway’s \u00a0Rail, Neotropic Cormorant, Long-billed Curlew, Abert\u2019s Towhee, Lucy\u2019s Warbler, and Costa\u2019s Hummingbird.<\/p>\n

Conservation Concern:<\/i><\/b> <\/b>Invasive salt cedar dominates much of the riparian corridor. Loss of water supply due to pumping and reduced sewage flow because of diversion to other treatment facilities, water conservation, and gray water recapture by local communities is considered a long-term serious threat.<\/p>\n

Maps of this Important Bird Area:<\/h4>\n
\"Lower<\/a>

Lower Salt and Gila Rivers Ecosystem IBA GIS Map<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Lower<\/a>

Lower Salt and Gila Rivers Ecosystem IBA GIS Map – zoomed out<\/p><\/div>\n

MiniPlan_IBA_LowerSalt_Gila_March2025-1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Lower Salt and Gila Rivers | Arizona Wildlife Conservation Strategy<\/a><\/h4>\n

Complete eBird.org Checklist <\/a>of birds Reported for Lower Salt and Gila Rivers Ecosystem<\/strong><\/p>\n

For an interactive map and habitat and land ownership analysis of this IBA visit the National Audubon IBA Map<\/a><\/b> and select \u201cArizona\u201d and then the name of this Important Bird Area. To access analysis graphs, click on the map boundary of the IBA.<\/p>\n

County<\/strong>: Maricopa<\/p>\n

Site Status<\/strong>: Identified 07\/2002, Recognized 03\/2008, Identified Continental 10\/2011, Identified Global 10\/2011<\/p>\n

Ownership<\/strong>: Arizona Game and Fish Commission, City of Phoenix, Buckeye Irrigation District, BLM, Cities of Avondale, Buckeye and Goodyear and Private lands<\/p>\n

Area<\/strong>: 57.3 square miles, 36,645 acres<\/p>\n

Criteria<\/strong>: Continental: Species of Conservation Concern (Yuma Clapper Rail)<\/p>\n

State – Species of Conservation Concern – Waterfowl, colonial waterbirds, raptors\/winter and migration.<\/p>\n

Site Description<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0BLM lands in the IBA are part of the Fred J. Weiler Greenbelt. Sonoran Audubon Society is the steward for this IBA. They conduct bird surveys during the winter and spring. The Tres Rios and Gila River Christmas Bird Count circles include this IBA. The Tres Rios Nature Festival is held in March to celebrate the birds and other wildlife and their habitats.\u00a0 Information about the Sonoran Audubon Society and their IBA monitoring program can be found at: http:\/\/sonoranaudubon.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Vegetation Description<\/td>\nHectares<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CREOSOTEBUSH – BURSAGE (LOWER COLORADO R. VALLEY) COMMUNITIES<\/td>\n2413256<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MESQUITE BOSQUE COMMUNITIES<\/td>\n4471.47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MIXED PALOVERDE – CACTI COMMUNITIES<\/td>\n33101.99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RIPARIAN DECIDUOUS WOODLAND<\/td>\n8315.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SALTBUSH COMMUNITIES<\/td>\n334291.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TAMARIX DISCLIMAX COMMUNITIES<\/td>\n1525.884<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tres Rios Nature Festival | City of Avondale<\/a><\/p>\n

Base & Meridian Wildlife Area \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a><\/p>\n

Arlington Wildlife Area \u2013 Arizona Birding Trail<\/a><\/p>\n

Tres Rios Wetlands | City of Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Lower Gila River Collaborative – Rio Reimagined<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Snowy<\/a><\/p>\n

Snowy Egret by Don McCullough<\/p>\n

Ornithological Summary<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>The fish community here is considered to be one of the most abundant in Arizona, and consequently, the community of fish-eating birds is phenomenal. Egrets and herons are exceptionally abundant, with annual Audubon Christmas Bird\u00a0Counts (CBC) enumerating several hundred of these species (Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Snowy Egret, and Double-crested Cormorant). Ospreys are regular winter residents, common in migration, and have attempted to nest in recent years. Least Bittern is relatively common too, and Neotropical Cormorant are regularly in mixed groups with Double-crested Cormorant. Yuma\u00a0Ridgeway’s Rails reach their upstream limit of distribution within the reach, and are widely distributed within preferred habitats within the area. Abert\u2019s Towhee is particularly abundant, with the U.S. highest counts for the CBC occurring in this IBA.<\/p>\n

Many raptors winter along the river corridor in this area, especially the Northern Harrier and Cooper\u2019s Hawk, along with Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Prairie and Peregrine Falcon. The White-tailed Kite has nested on the Robbins Butte Wildlife Area (1999). Swainson\u2019s and Ferruginous Hawk migrate through in the fall and spring in large numbers (500 Average).<\/p>\n

\"Lucy's<\/a>

Lucy’s Warbler by Don Faulkner<\/p><\/div>\n

Conservation Issues<\/span><\/strong>: <\/strong>Invasion of salt cedar \u2013 large monotypic tracts of Salt Cedar dominate much of the riparian corridor. Loss of water supply due to pumping and reduced sewage flow because of diversion to other treatment facilities, water conservation, and gray water recapture by local\u00a0communities is considered a long-term serious threat. There are also water quality risks due to the presence of herbicide and pesticide run-off and pharmaceuticals in effluent water. Unmanaged human use threatens to disturb nesting birds, and lack of access control contributes to illegal dumping, and risk of accidental fire. Cowbird population is abundant and may be impacting Neotropical migratory nesting birds in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Global IBA for Yuma\u00a0Ridgeway’s Rail and Neotropical Cormorant Continental IBA for Abert’s Towhee,\u00a0Yuma Ridgeway’s\u00a0Rail and Long-billed Curlew Site Steward: Sonoran Audubon and Audubon Southwest Size: 57.3 square miles, 36,645 acres Identified: 07\/2002. Recognized: 03\/2008. Global\/Continental: 10\/2011 Visiting the IBA: Arlington Wildlife area is on the west bank of the Gila River approximately 3-1\/2 miles south … <\/p>\n

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