Spring and fall migration are critical and highly vulnerable periods for most North American bird species. Globally, migratory birds are more likely to have declined in population than non-migratory species, and migration itself can be disproportionately more deadly than the rest of a bird’s life cycle. To reverse these declines, conserving and restoring critical migratory stopover sites is increasingly important. Among the most important and dangerous stopover regions in North America is the heavily urbanized Chicago metropolitan area, due to its intersection with a major migratory pathway and the Lake Michigan shoreline. In collaboration with local partners, we developed an interactive online mapping tool using ArcGIS Experience Builder to help identify areas with high quality habitats for migratory landbirds, threats, and opportunities for restoration within natural areas along the Illinois Coastal Region, which consists of Illinois’s coastline and river systems adjacent to Lake Michigan. We initially conducted a literature review to inform supporting information, mapping tools, and recommendations. We then created quality and restoration opportunity maps for three habitat types (woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands) by compiling and ranking a set of indicator datasets, including information from land managers in the region. We also reported different threats as individual layers for managers to identify potential localized stressors. Quality and opportunity layers and corresponding rankings were run through Zonation, a decision support software that generates spatial prioritizations, using the Additive Benefit Function (ABF) model. All protected areas in the Illinois Coastal Region were ranked based on these outputs and rankings, which resulted in a list of 8 protected areas in the region with high priority for migratory stopover conservation and management. We also developed overviews for 21 priority species based on local conservation scores, eBird abundance maps, conservation listings, and habitat needs during migration. To help guide land management in the region, we also synthesized the literature review and local expert opinion into landscape-scale, local-scale, and habitat-based recommendations. The Illinois Coastal Stopover Tool will help support the dedicated land managers working to improve habitat and support migratory bird conservation in the region.
