I have published over a dozen 10 professional articles on shrublands, including extensive surveys of birds nesting in different stages of early succession from abandoned field up to sapling forest. I have had several grants about management for Golden-winged Warblers and I am going to a conference on shrubland management for GW this weekend. This is my thing.
I'll try to be brief. There is no one-stage-of-succession or frequency-of-mowing that is best for all bird species. Some species like fields with practically no woody stems and others like over 75% cover by woody plants (Confer, J. L. and S. M. Pascoe. 2003. “The avian community on utility rights-of-ways and other managed shrublands in northeastern United States”. Forest Ecology and Management 85:193-206.). Hay fields might best be mowed in mid-July allowing second broods of, e.g, meadowlark and bobolinks, a chance to fledge and allowing grasses to produce seed heads that might feed winter birds, or even mice and then raptors. My surveys in the Finger Lakes National Forest showed that maximum diversity of shrubland birds is probably obtained at about 50% cover by vegetation growing from woody stems. Mowing a field cuts woody stems, but usually does not kill them. This leads to regrowth from the established roots of woody stems making the field gradually more woody, and less herbaceous. In time, perhaps 20 years, a repeatedly mowed field is all woody stems. At this point an occasional plowing that allows reestablishment of herbaceous plants is good. There are some grassland species that won't nest unless the acreage is really large. On the other hand, there are some shrubland species that use or even like or require forest edge and 5 acres is quite fine, depending on the vegetation growing on the perimeter. John Confer ________________________________ From: bounce-120273450-25065...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-120273450-25065...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Michele Emerick Brown <m...@cornell.edu> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 4:14 PM To: Michael O. Engle; CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fields The mowing information/resource is very interesting. It seems to be directed to people with 15 acres or more. I have a 5 acre field that used to be in hay, but which is slowly going to scrub (right now it’s mainly goldenrod) because we stopped having it cut. Could someone direct me to information to help me figure out what would be best for birds? Should I get it cut, leave it alone, plant it with something else? I think Red-winged blackbirds usually nest in it. I live out in Caroline so there are a lot of other fields being rotated between corn and hay. Thanks, Michele From: bounce-120268837-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-120268837-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Michael O. Engle Sent: Monday, March 14, 2016 4:03 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: RE:[cayugabirds-l] help determining the time to mow fields I’m fine with the discussion taking place on the list. I think it would be good, in the end, if one person could work directly with the livestock guy I talked with to advise/train/support him over time. It’s certainly a useful kind of knowledge for livestock producers who manage fields for hay. I wonder if the county extension folks are a useful resource to help out and provide support with this topic. Michael +++++++++++++++++ Michael Engle, Reference and Instruction Librarian Selector, Olin/Uris Reference and Anglo-American News 106 Olin Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Email: m...@cornell.edu<mailto:m...@cornell.edu>; Telephone: (607) 255-1884 From: Donna Lee Scott Sent: Monday, March 14, 2016 3:39 PM To: Michael O. Engle <m...@cornell.edu<mailto:m...@cornell.edu>>; CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>> Subject: RE: help determining the time to mow fields While I can understand why Michael wants to keep the conversation with the livestock person off the list, I think it would benefit many of us if we knew what are the recommendations are for when is the best time to mow hay or grass fields with regard to protecting nesting grassland birds and their offspring. I would like this information to be posted on the list. I often toy with the idea of trying to convince some local landowners here in Lansing to mow large grass expanses in later summer, but I don’t know what the cut-off date is. Donna L. Scott Lansing Station Road Lansing, NY From: bounce-120268126-15001...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-120268126-15001...@list.cornell.edu> [mailto:bounce-120268126-15001...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Michael O. Engle Sent: Monday, March 14, 2016 2:24 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] help determining the time to mow fields Hi, I had a chat with a local livestock raiser at Winter Market this weekend. He hays a number of fields and would like some guidance on the best time to do the haying to protect birds that nest in the fields he cuts. Please respond to me off list, and I will pass his contact information along. Thanks, Michael +++++++++++++++++ Michael Engle, Reference and Instruction Librarian Selector, Olin/Uris Reference and Anglo-American News 106 Olin Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Email: m...@cornell.edu<mailto:m...@cornell.edu>; Telephone: (607) 255-1884 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
