Thursday, January 30 2025 10:33

Down But Not Out

Written by Kit Werner, Natural Lands
Photos courtesy of Bill Moses and Natural Lands

Sometimes birders need to look down and tread carefully

Eastern meadowlark

Claudia Winters, Natural Lands’ assistant preserve manager for Sadsbury, Willisbrook and Green Hills Preserves, is a self-professed birder. Okay, actually she’s a wildlifer — she has a passion for myriad critters and the natural areas that protect and sustain them.

Claudia’s appreciation for the outdoors began at an early age. “Starting when I was very young, I’d climb the pine trees out in the yard. I was so small that I could get almost all the way to the top. From 50 feet up, I’d look out over the surrounding farms and fields as the tree top swayed in the wind.”

As a bird lover, Claudia had kept looking out and up, usually with binoculars at the ready.

When to Look Down

Grasshopper sparrow

That’s except when it comes to looking for bobolinks, eastern meadowlarks or grasshopper sparrows during spring breeding season. These native songbird species all build their nests on the ground, tucked between clumps of meadow grasses. To spot these tiny nests, Claudia has to look down and be careful where she steps.

“They pick a spot, usually a little depression in the ground, and then weave dried grasses into a tiny, cup-shaped nest,” said Claudia. “They’re so well camouflaged.”

Nationwide, grassland birds are struggling. Researchers estimate many species have lost more than half their population since 1970. One quarter of these are “Tipping Point” species: birds that are predicted to lose another 50% of their population in the next 50 years.

These bird species spend their winters in the southern U.S., Central or South America. They migrate north in the spring to breed in the grasslands of the northern U.S. and southern Canada. With the decline of native prairies and meadows, these species have adapted well to hayfields and pastures. But, as more farms are lost to development, grassland species are struggling to survive.

Know When to Mow — After July 15

Chestnut-collared longspur nest, another ground-nesting bird species. Photo: Kati Fleming

Fortunately, the meadows and farm fields of Natural Lands’ preserves are ideal nesting habitat for ground-nesting birds. That is, of course, unless the land is mowed before the baby birds have fledged (become able to leave the nest).

“We can control when we mow our fields or when our farmers harvest their crops. All of Natural Lands’ properties with native grassland or farmland are managed through delayed mowing practices with a ‘no mow before’ date of July 15th,” said Claudia. “But we need to spread the word to other landowners and farmers if we’re going to give these birds a fighting chance.”

That’s why Natural Lands has joined with Willistown Conservation Trust to partner on the Grassland Bird Collaboration, which they launched in 2022. With a grant from the Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative, the Collaboration reaches out to Chester County property owners and the farmers who work these lands. “We work with these partners to provide guidance on best management practices to benefit the three focal species: bobolink, eastern meadowlark and grasshopper sparrow,” said Claudia.

One of the most vital land management practices is to delay mowing during the breeding period. Mowing before birds complete their nesting cycle removes available habitat. Implementing a “no-mow” period when there are babies and fledglings in a field allows young birds to develop in a safe environment before the nesting grounds are disturbed.

So far, the Collaboration has enrolled more than 1,000 acres of privately held land to participate in “bird-sensitive” field management practices. The goal is to expand that number to 1,500 acres.

Thanks to Mushroom Farmers

Chester County is well positioned to support this conservation effort thanks to local mushroom farms — and their demand for mulch hay. Mushroom houses prefer later-season hay that’s been left to mature and dry in the fields. Providing for the mushroom market means there’s less disruption to farming practices and to the grassland birds during their crucial breeding period.

Bobolink

“The unique local agricultural market provides a great opportunity to work with farmers to meet our conservation goals,” said Zoë Warner, project manager for the Grassland Bird Collaboration. “This enables us to increase the wildlife benefit of conserved land within a large contiguous preservation belt. The land won’t simply be ‘open space.’ It will provide valuable and essential breeding grounds to help reverse the precipitous decline of grassland birds.”

“These birds don’t just rely on our fields and meadows for nesting. They also use them as stopover sites or staging grounds, before or during migration,” said Claudia, who coordinates Natural Lands’ involvement in the Grassland Bird Collaboration. Her work includes monitoring breeding pairs of grassland species at Bryn Coed, ChesLen and Stroud Preserves.

“We found that bobolinks in particular feast on insects and seeds in preparation for their 6,000-mile journey back to South America. Especially when surrounding fields have been mowed, the grasslands enrolled in the program are a lifeline to these amazing animals.”

 

Next time you’re strolling in a meadow or field this spring or summer, remember to look down!


Natural Lands is dedicated to preserving and nurturing nature’s wonders while creating opportunities for joy and discovery in the outdoors for everyone. As the Greater Philadelphia region’s oldest and largest land conservation organization, Natural Lands — which is member supported — has preserved more than 125,000 acres, including 42 nature preserves and one public garden totaling more than 23,000 acres. Nearly five million people live within five miles of land under the organization’s protection. Land for life, nature for all. NatLands.org.