DELAWARE BAY New Jersey’s DELAWARE BAY Wildlife Action Plan

Linchpin for Migratory Birds and Bald Eagles Each fall, waves of songbirds and raptors funnel south on the Atlantic Flyway into Cape May peninsula. In spring, weary shorebirds flying from South America New Jersey’s to the Arctic touch down at Delaware Bay to refuel Jane Galetto Southern gray treefrog on horseshoe crab eggs. Year-round, bald eagles Bald eagle Wildlife Action Plan State threatened State endangered The high trill-like call of this wheel above the Cohansey and Maurice Rivers, the The state’s stronghold for bald Creating a Network treefrog in spring punctuates epicenter of the state’s eagle recovery. They soar eagles is in Cumberland the vernal pools and woodlands County, which also harbors the for Conservation that are essential for this over marshes that support elusive black rails and oldest nest, found in Bear species, found only in the immense flocks of American black ducks. Following Swamp Natural Area. Eagles southernmost part of the state. reside year-round in Delaware To protect our wildlife of greatest conservation The more common northern the rivers inland, bald eagles nest in large trees Bay marshes and woodlands, need, the New Jersey Department of gray treefrog’s call is a slower, that are part of unbroken forests, which shelter and concentrate along open Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish lower trill. waters in winter. other rare species. Preserving this internationally and Wildlife led many partners to develop and Conserving significant landscape is a race against time as rapid implement the state’s Wildlife Action Plan. The and Restoring Habitat development continues to eliminate and fragment plan offers a blueprint to protect key habitats, limit growth to avoid urban sprawl and address Connecting habitats, especially on Cape May peninsula. climate change. To learn more, please visit: www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/waphome.htm Lands And Waters Cooperating

Across Ownerships Northern harrier Frosted elfin butterfly State endangered State threatened Northern harriers hunt for This butterfly’s caterpillar feeds Cover photo: Bald Eagle, Steve Hillebrand/USFWS rodents over salt marshes only on wild lupine and wild Funded by State Wildlife Grants. that also attract hunting bald indigo, plants growing in the For more information on New Jersey’s Wildlife Action Plan eagles, short-eared owls and scrub-shrub habitats provided by contact ENSP at: 609-292-9400 www.njfishandwildlife.com peregrine falcons. power lines’ corridors. Goals and Actions for Delaware Bay

Goal: Retain a north-south Action: Manage and restore salt Shorelines for peninsula forest marshes ecologically Migrating birds, butterflies and bats follow a forested By taking a strategic approach, managers can reduce Resting, Refueling spine that runs down the peninsula, yet it is becoming mosquito breeding grounds while sustaining the increasingly fragmented by development. Within the qualities of a wild marsh shaped by tides that flood and Living corridor of oak, maple, sweet gum and pine trees are the low marsh daily and the high marsh as little as freshwater vernal ponds that are essential homes for monthly. Restoring the marshes will bring a return of Kevin T. Karlson the state endangered Eastern tiger salamander and a dynamic ecosystem of mudflats, tidal creeks, and Did you know? Red knot - State endangered the state threatened Southern gray treefrog. low and high marshes. Ecotourism in Delaware Bay brings Delaware Bay is among the top shorebird stopovers in the country, hosting hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds each spring. in $16 million to $34 million annually to The attraction is horseshoe crabs, which spawn on Bay beaches Goal: Conserve intact watershed New Jersey. and produce eggs that are a superb food for hungry shorebirds. Did you know? forests A precipitous decline in horseshoe crabs from harvest led to a Landowners can make a positive crash in shorebirds, especially the red knot. New Jersey enacted a It’s no accident that the core of bald eagle recovery contribution to wildlife by providing in New Jersey falls within the vast forests of the Goal: Protect critical migratory bird moratorium on horseshoe crab harvest in 2008. food-bearing plants, cover and water. Tuckahoe and Maurice River watersheds. Here, stopover sites eagles find nesting and winter roosting habitats close Beaches, dunes, marshes and tidal rivers comprise Cape May Peninsula to expanses of water with plentiful fish. Barred owls one of the richest ecosystems on the Atlantic Action: Help landowners enhance and replant forests and red-shouldered hawks also prefer the area’s seaboard that, in turn, supports an internationally Bird Lifeline large tracts of mature bottomland forests that are now Putting into practice forestry guidelines for wildlife important migratory bird stopover site. The decline in threatened as development spreads inland. horseshoe crabs, vulnerability of the bay to oil spills Goal: Provide resting and refueling will help restore critical corridor forests needed by and rising sea levels from climate change all pose spots for migratory wildlife migratory songbirds, as well as for salamanders and Action: Plan and manage for large, serious challenges for Delaware Bay. In the wake of development, habitat is lost. In the treefrogs that must crawl or hop safely from one older forests coastal regions and Cape May peninsula, land area breeding pond to the next for their species’ survival. Action: Prevent, stabilize and Preserve older forest stands with large diameter trees is limited by the ocean and Delaware Bay, making and plan for younger wetland forests to become reverse declines of shorebirds and remaining habitats increasingly important for migrating Rivers to the Sea suitable habitat by using tools such as fee purchases, coastal marsh birds birds. As songbirds and raptors make their way south, conservation easements, landowner incentives and Restoring the horseshoe crab population is key to they rely on fields, forests and marshes all along the Goal: Conserve natural salt marshes forest stewardship plans. reversing the decline of shorebirds that depend Cape May peninsula. Management to improve habitat The Tuckahoe, Maurice and Cohansey rivers form on the crab eggs for survival. At a landscape quality – to provide food and shelter – is essential to critical wildlife lifelines. The salt marshes where level, safeguarding the water quality of the bay for maintain the populations of migrating birds. they enter the Delaware Bay serve as fish nurseries, migratory and resident wildlife will take vigilant waterfowl nesting grounds and as a banquet table for monitoring, preparing for oil spill cleanup and Action: Support backyard habitat ducks, herons, rails, shorebirds and raptors. These identifying the critical marsh habitats to protect in a projects throughout Cape May habitats are still recovering from the mosquito control changing climate. Partnerships to encourage and support backyard practices of yesteryear: grids of ditches dug to drain habitat projects offer positive steps to enhance the marshes. autumn food availability for raptors, songbirds, American woodcocks and butterflies.