Just to add to what others have said, it’s important to keep in mind that there are plenty of common ground-nesting birds that might be in a meadow that are not as elusive as Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks, etc. Consider the Killdeer, Wild Turkey, and Song Sparrow as examples of a few such species that would be affected by the mowing of smaller parcels. So I wouldn’t say you don’t need to be concerned about disturbing ground-nesting birds at all on smaller parcels, even in your backyard.
Take care, Robyn Bailey NestWatch Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology From: bounce-128720786-15067...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-128720786-15067...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of t...@ottcmail.com Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2025 4:10 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Size of Acreage needed to host ground nesting birds? Tom Gavin (Professor Emeritus, Cornell University) & Noah Perlot (Professor, Univ of New England) are recognized experts on grassland nesting birds. Their work was the basis for worksheets developed for landowners by the Ag Allies<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b4e0a6912b13ffa1db85e3f/t/6229fd492451f0640b2da354/1646918986348/AAFactSheet-Landowners.pdf> program in Maine. Their advice<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b4e0a6912b13ffa1db85e3f/t/6229fd492451f0640b2da354/1646918986348/AAFactSheet-Landowners.pdf> to landowners was that an 8 acre parcel is large enough to support bobolinks, other grassland nesting birds might require 15 acres or more. Also, a few years ago Donna Scott kindly referred me to a pamphlet distributed by NYS Cornell Coop Extension on managing hayfields for grassland nesting birds<https://nyfoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/HayfieldsGrassland_Birds_3MB.pdf>. This pamphlet uses 10-12 acres as the threshold. Alicia On 4/12/2025 12:54 PM, madonna stallmann wrote: Hello Bird Brains! 😁 I recently finished a class about meadow restoration. The instructor made a statement about ground nesting birds that I had not heard before. It goes like this: "If you don't have acreage of 18 or more acres, you don't need to be concerned about disturbing ground nesting birds while conducting restoration activities (ie. mowing)." I was unable to ask for a study reference before the class ended. Is there anyone out there who can verify the instructor's statement? OR Do you know where I might find information that will verify the amount of undisturbed meadow acreage that ground nesting birds require to establish a nesting site? 💐 🐦Madonna Stallmann -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> 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> ABA<https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> 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> ABA<https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
