These data were developed as a means of capturing existing knowledge and beliefs about the most important areas for bird conservation. The areas indentified varied widely in size and scale, from whole subregions (e.g., the Lake Champlain Basin, for waterbirds and waterfowl) to relatively small, specific sites (e.g., individual airports or military installations). For each focus area, participants were asked to identify the species or group of species for which the area was most important. There was no attempt to identify specific focus areas for all priority bird species, species-suites, or habitat suites. Therefor some habitats that are more discrete or patchy on the lanscape (e.g., large grasslands) were more likely to be identified than were others (e.g., high-quality forest patches). Some priority species are not associated with any of the focus areas identified, and some species groups are represented by many large focus areas (e.g., waterfowl), while other groups are represented by few or no focus areas (e.g., forest birds). No survey data, published or otherwise, was used explicitly to define or justify focus area designation, or to make qualitative assessments among areas, or between focus areas designated and other areas in the landscape that were not designated.