Galloway and Miry Bay (Canada) IBA | Summary

CA496

Galloway and Miry Bay

Current view: summary

Country/territory: Canada

IBA criteria met: A4i, A4iii (2008)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 5,900 hectares (59.00 km²)

Birds Canada / Nature Canada

Site description (2001 baseline)
Galloway and Miry Bays are located at the west end of Lake Diefenbaker about 20 km north of Cabri. Miry Bay is located on the west side of the lake at the southern end of the IBA. It was formed when the rising waters of the reservoir drowned the mouth of Miry Creek. Galloway Bay is on the east side of the lake, about 5 km farther north. Depending on the water level, the site also includes numerous islands and sandbars that extend to the north end of Lake Diefenbaker.

Key biodiversity
Galloway and Miry Bays are the most significant staging areas for Greater White-fronted Geese in the Canadian Prairies. On average, the number of geese recorded here during annual fall surveys is about 294,000 birds, or about 38% of the average estimated fall flight of the mid-continent Greater White-fronted Goose population. In 1995, 748,000 geese were recorded (about 68% of the estimated 1995 fall flight of 1.1 million geese). The Greater White-fronted Geese generally leave Miry and Galloway Bays by early October and are replaced by mixed flocks of Snow Geese and Ross? Geese numbering 25,000 or more. Large numbers of Canada Geese are also occasionally present with about 85,000 being recorded in late September 1991. The numbers of geese at this site fluctuate depending on the availability of alternate staging areas. During dry years, the numbers of geese using this site are much, much larger (see comments under the conservation issues section).

Globally significant numbers of Sandhill Cranes are also recorded at this site. Totals of 63,000 in 1991 and 78,000 in 199? were recorded. The average of 70,500 is about 10.8% of the estimated global Sandhill Crane population, while the 1991 total is 12%.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Galloway and Miry Bay (Canada). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/galloway-and-miry-bay-iba-canada on 26/12/2024.