The Long Point area includes a rich diversity of aquatic habitats, from open lake, shallow bays and creeks, to swamps and marshes. Long Point itself is one of the most important wetland complexes for migrating waterfowl in southern Canada, and is reported to receive the highest waterfowl use (based on numbers of waterfowl days during spring and fall migration) of any area on the Great Lakes (approximately 4 million days per year). Up to 30,000 Tundra Swans pass through the area in spring, and up to 8% of the world's Canvasbacks congregate in the area on any one day during spring and fall. Long Point was designated as a Ramsar site in 1982, based primarily on its international importance as a waterfowl staging area. Furthermore, Long Point and its surrounding waters have been designated as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, and a Globally Important Bird Area by Birdlife International and the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Ten-thousand acres of wetland and upland habitat have also been designated as a National Wildlife Area.
The international importance of Long Point for North America's waterfowl is based upon the fact that it regularly supports substantial numbers of waterfowl from the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Central Flyways. A look at the species maps depicting the recovery locations of waterfowl banded or recovered at Long Point, accentuates the importance of this extraordinary staging area for migrating waterfowl from throughout eastern and central North America (Figures 8.1 to 8.15)(These figures are based on all band recovery data in the USFWS files to the end of 1995). Note that several species of ducks that migrate through Long Point are passing from their wintering areas in the eastern and southeastern states to breed on the Canadian and United States prairies, as well as throughout the Arctic.
