Date: 4/12/25 11:17 am From: Jody Enck <jodyenck...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Size of Acreage needed to host ground nesting birds?
Hi Madonna,
Thanks for asking this question because I think a lot of folks who want to
help conserve steeply declining grassland birds would be interested in an
answer.
I do not know what the presenter was referring to specifically, but I would
guess that it might have to do with how big or how small of a field
grassland nesting birds need to nest.
Eighteen acres, converted to a square comes out to be about 885 feet by 885
feet (almost a football field long by a football field wide). Having
conducted grassland breeding bird surveys for work since 2018, I can say
with some authority that a field of that size would definitely be used by
grassland nesting birds like Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and even
Upland Sandpipers.
If you do a search of available literature online, one rule of thumb that
pops up again and again is that grassland nesting birds most frequently
nest in fields larger than about 10ac in size. Perhaps even more important
than total size is field shape. Bobolinks and Meadowlarks typically like
to nest more than 50 yards from a hedgerow or woods. So a 10ac fieldthat
is real long and narrow may not have any nesting grassland birds using it,
while a square field of 10ac might have several pairs nesting there.
I would encourage you to ask the instructor (if you can) for a specific
answer about the 18ac field. I would be curious to know the response.d
Thanks for starting the discussion.
Jody
Jody W. Enck, PhD
Conservation Social Scientist, and
Founder of the Sister Bird Club Network
607-379-5940
On Sat, Apr 12, 2025 at 12:55 PM madonna stallmann <
<madonnaoftheprairie...> wrote:
