Birdson the Farm A Stewardship Guide Written by Erin McGauley Edited by Gregor G. Beck and Anne Bell Spring 2004 1 Introduction – 4 Homestead Areas – 8 Boxes and Tunnels Planting Native Vegetation Ontario Barn Owl Recovery Project Cedar Waxwing Cropland Techniques – 14 Conservation Tillage Voracious Visitors Vesper Sparrow Contents Other Cropland Techniques Crop Rotation Strip Cropping and Grassy Borders Cover Crops Northern Bobwhite Pest Management and Organics – 23 Trends in Pesticide Use Reducing Exposure to Pesticides Integrated Pest Management Agriculture is for the Birds! Birds Can Help Prevent Your Pest Problems Grasslands – 27 Rotational Grazing Pasture and Hayfield Species Haying Loggerhead Shrike Case Study: Rotational Grazing Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Upland Sandpiper Marginal Farmland – 38 Deciding to Retire Your Land Retired Farmland is for the Birds Brown Thrasher Eastern Towhee Strip Habitat – 43 Strip Habitat is Critical for Birds Strip Cover Design Tips Cowbird Parasitism and Yellow Warblers Strip Cover Specifics highlight Indigo Bunting 2 Eastern Kingbird Woodlands – 49 Interior Forest Habitat Bigger is Better Naturalizing Tree Plantations Scarlet Tanager Red-eyed Vireo Water Resources – 55 If it Isn’t Broken… Buffer Strips Buffers for What? Birds Benefit from Buffers Livestock and Waterways Don’t Mix The Multiple Benefits of Exclusion Exclusion Fencing Contents Alternate Watering Systems Common Yellowthroat American Woodcock Monitoring for Success – 64 Christmas Bird Count Ontario Nest Record Scheme Project FeederWatch Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas Getting Help – Sources of Information – 67 and Assistance 3 Introduction n Southern Ontario, two trends have meant bad news Ifor many species of birds: 1. the countryside is increasing- ly becoming urbanized, and 2. the remaining farmland is being farmed increasingly intensively. “In New England they once For example, between 1966 thought blackbirds useless and 1986, agricultural use of and mischievous to the corn. land declined from 68% to They made efforts to destroy 54% in Southern Ontario as a them. The consequence was, result of urbanization. During the blackbirds were dimin- the same period, the percent- ished; but a kind of worm, age of forest on agricultural which devoured their grass, land dropped from 12% to and which the blackbirds 5.5%. Most counties and used to feed on, increased townships now have less than prodigiously . they wished 15% forest cover, and some again for their blackbirds.” have less than 5% (Riley & Benjamin Franklin, 1749 Mohr, 1994). People who live much of their At the same time, the proportion life outside are very aware of of small family farms declined birds, perhaps more so than any relative to large corporate farms. other life form. We notice the A nation-wide trend, Canadian noisy return of killdeers in the farms are increasing in size and early spring, the clear sweet decreasing in number, with the song of a meadowlark from a average farm size having fence post in the early summer, increased from 50 hectares in or the clamour of gulls follow- 1990 to 250 hectares in the mid- ing the tractor on a warm sum- 1990s (Wildlife Habitat Canada, mer evening. Old timers will tell 2001). you that the birds are different 4 now. The fact is that the num- Larger farms mean less diversi- bers and types of birds around fied farming and more row-crop- us are always changing in ping. As pasture is converted to response to how we use and cropland, sometimes hedgerows manage the land and water. are removed to increase field size, and fields are ploughed to good reasons to do so, some their edges, eliminating grassy economic, some ecological and buffer strips. Equipment is get- some more personal. ting larger, and hedgerows are taken out to facilitate the move- Starting with the more personal ment of equipment between reasons, it is probably fair to say fields. Overall, this trend toward that most people enjoy looking more intensive agriculture is at and listening to birds. It would resulting in a simplified and con- be hard to imagine a silent stantly disturbed landscape, spring, without the chorus of Introduction often more reliant on chemical bird song greeting us when we inputs. Impacts include ground- step out of the house in the water contamination, declining morning. Through their song, surface water quality, and the movement, and comings and degradation and loss of wildlife goings, birds connect us to the habitat. natural world and remind us that According to many researchers, we are part of a living planet. the intensification and special- ization of farms in Ontario is It is up to each of us to ensure contributing to the population that bird populations remain declines of many species of healthy. While the individual birds (Friesen, 1994). For exam- actions of landowners may ple, more than 90% of grass- appear to have little effect on the land birds declined in eastern big picture, collectively their North America between 1966 impact is profound. Hence, as and 1989; two species affected, one small farm after another is the Henslow’s sparrow and log- affected by more intensive agri- gerhead shrike, are now listed cultural practices, we witness as Endangered (Austen et al., declines in entire groups of 1994). Similarly, the clearing of species such as grasslands birds. forests has resulted in declines of forest-dependent species Ironically, when birds disappear such as the whip-poor-will, from the countryside because scarlet tanager and ovenbird the habitat is no longer suitable, (Austen et al., 1994). it is the landowners who may lose out, especially financially. On a farm that is managed con- f we have the ability to sciously to benefit birds, the birds make the landscape worse for themselves can be of consider- Ibirds, then surely we also have able benefit to the farmer. 5 the ability to improve it. And that Consider: is what this guide book is about: improving habitat around the • In Alberta, a pair of savan- farm for birds. There are many nah sparrows (one of the most common breeding areas, there are opportunities to birds in mixed farming improve bird habitat while regions in Ontario) was meeting farm business objec- found to consume over five tives. Modern farming tec- kilograms of insects and spi- niques such as conservation ders during a breeding sea- son. This would amount to about 3.7 kilograms or 149,000 grasshoppers per season. Introduction • In one study, birds removed 64% of over-wintering corn borers in one year and 82% in another year. • In Ohio, white-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper tillage, riparian buffer strips, and downy woodpecker and integrated pest manage- reduce codling moth larvae ment play important roles in by over 90%. enhancing and creating bird- • In pecan groves, a tufted tit- friendly habitat on farms, and mouse was found to eat can result in significant savings 2,100 case bearer larvae, for farmers. Incorporating eco- saving pecan growers an logical management techniques estimated 52,000 nuts. such as those outlined in this • Birds have a strong prefer- book has many benefits for ence for pests: they eat 16 individual landowners, the envi- times more pest insects than ronment and society at large: beneficial insects. • Birds cause 72% mortality • Crop residues left on land of spruce budworm larvae in combination with no-till and pupae. cropping can reduce soil • In one study, evening gros- erosion by 80% and beaks ate 3,036,000 improve water quality. spruce budworms per • Fencerows slow wind speeds square kilometre at one by 15%, lowering associated site and 8,900,000 per erosion rates, saving valuable square kilometre at anoth- top soil and acting as living er. The financial benefits snow fences. were estimated at $1,820 • Shelterbelts can lower 6 per square kilometre (1995 energy needs by 10-30% dollar value). while offering livestock shade in summer and shel- Bird-Friendly Farming ter in the rain and cold. In most intensively farmed • Woodlots can provide fire- wood as well as building At the back of the book you materials, nuts and maple will find a listing of publications syrup to supplement farm and websites where you can income. obtain additional information • Buffer strips protect ground on the featured management and stream water quality techniques. There is also a com- and filter nutrients, particu- prehensive listing of organiza- larly nitrates, from runoff. tions that can provide advice on • Herd health is improved farming and conservation top- when livestock is kept out of ics, including a summary of Introduction waterways. some financial assistance pro- • Enhancing farmland for grams to help offset up-front birds results in better insect costs of implementing ecologi- and rodent control. cal farming methods. What this guide book is about Good land stewardship involves developing an understanding of As a general rule, almost any the birds that use your farm, practice that reduces soil erosion, their habitat needs and the improves water quality, reduces techniques to manage that pesticide use and diversifies habitat for the good of both farming operations will likely birds and the farm. We hope benefit birds (Best, 1990). that this guide book demon- Throughout this guide book, we strates that bird-friendly farm- have highlighted some of the ing and sound farm most readily available ecological management can support and management techniques that benefit each other, and that help protect birds and their habi- together these approaches can tat. Each technique is briefly out- result in economic savings and lined, as are the economic, ecological benefits for farmers. environmental and/or social ben- efits of their implementation. Various bird species that may benefit from your actions are named in the descriptions of the management techniques. In addition, each section features one to three profiles of particu- lar bird species to give you a 7 better idea of the birds that can benefit from the implementa- tion of the management tech- niques described.