Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

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birds
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by birds » Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:32 am

Can't speak for Iowa, but I'd bet a lot that we are going into our 2nd (arguably 3rd) year of significant winter kill here. If we don't get a good hatch this spring, last years grim bird numbers are going to look pretty good. Since Feb 2 have had no more that three 24 hour periods when it was not below zero and the years's coldest temps are coming this weekend.

fishvik
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by fishvik » Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:12 pm

If a game bird population has a minimal viable breeding population they can recover if the habitat is favorable. Most upland bird species will rebound quickly if habitat conditions improve. They are short lived individuals that have large clutch sizes. This allows populations to replace themselves quickly. The key for upland birds, and any other species for that matter, is habitat quantity and quality.

birds
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by birds » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

"They are short lived individuals that have large clutch sizes"

Agreed. Thus my concern over good hatch conditions. That's what got us last locally year (pheasants/huns - sharptails not so much) - hard winter/heavy June rains and a late July hail storm in some areas. I have no doubt they will rebound eventually, but looking outside I see critical winter habitat under a lot of snow. If they can't eat regularly and it gets well below zero nearly every night for a month its going to take a toll on who is around this spring to nest.

fishvik
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by fishvik » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:07 am

Birds, I think this points out that probably the "weak link in the habitat chain" is good thick winter cover and good nesting and brooding cover and insect production. With modern farming practices this link has been further weakened. Brush and tree lined weedy fencelines have been removed, ditches and sump ponds have been filled in, and increased use of insecticides have reduced bugs that are needed for young birds. No till farming is a plus but the cover it leaves usually is not thick enough for adequate pheasant winter habitat. These factors are needed for pheasants. Huns and sharpies can get along in pretty tough conditions as long as there is adequate food available. Sharpies will move to areas with more fruit bearing trees and shrubs. Huns can survive with scant cover as long as they have some form of grain and seeds in the winter. However both huns and sharpie young do need ample bugs in the late spring and summer for growth.

birds
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by birds » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:38 am

Agreed. The only caveat I'd add is that huns are screwed when heavy, wind packed snow causes conditions in even open areas that they can't dig thru to reach food (which includes winter greens like winter wheat and cheat grass). I don't think this happens often in most of the birds' viable range, but when it does (as it did here last year) they are screwed. They had shelter, they just couldn't reach food. And I'm not sure cover helps all that much when you get 5-6 inches of cold June rain in a one day landscape-wide event when daytime temps are in the 40's. The nests are going to flood and/or the small chicks are going to die.
You are right - sharptails (being native, and well, sharptails) seem more able to take it all in stride. Even taking that into account our local lek counts were down 40% last spring.

Novice123
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by Novice123 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:43 am

How about doing something about it? You can buy a Federal Duck stamp and the money goes to purchasing Waterfowl Production Areas. Maybe you aren't a duck hunter, but the duck marshes and reeds provide the important winter cover for upland birds. I am on the banquet committees for the local Pheasant Forever and Ducks Unlimited chapters in my county. We need more volunteers for our committees or just volunteers to work the card games at the banquets. The Clay County Ducks Unlimited banquet had a net fund raising of $32,000 for the spring banquet alone. Our county now has 18,000 acres of public hunting and this is in a largely urban county. I work with a lot of people that are hunters and they like to shoot a duck or pheasant but they won't volunteer and they won't attend a banquet and they won't buy a raffle ticket. They want someone else to do it. Of course, some of the money is badly spent. Of course, some of the DNR initiatives are controversial. However, DU is doing a lot in my area to create habitat and to clear carp and fathead minnows out of sloughs with water control structures. Also, our County Pheasants Forever Chapter has helped restore almost 2,000 acres of newly aquired farm land that has been converted to state Wildlife Management Areas for public hunting. The National DU and National PF lobby congress to get improvements to the Farm Bill. The new farm bill has a provision for $5 BILLION dollars to be spent on improving habitat over the life of the new farm bill. Those type of provisions require money donated through DU and PF to initiate these provisions through lobbying efforts.

fishvik
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by fishvik » Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:21 pm

Novice123, You are right on. I have been a member of DU committees, attended banquets and worked on conservation projects. At present I'm heavily involved with Trout Unlimited. I only point this out, not to brag, but to tell you that all volunteer conservation organizations are hurting for volunteers. The gray beards are the base and we definitely need new blood. We are the answer to on the ground conservation. We have the ability to get things done without the bureaucracy of a government agency. I say this as 35 year federal resource agency vet.

birds
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by birds » Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:33 pm

Good point and agreed. I not only volunteer (and buy duck stamps :wink: ) but my chosen career path is invasive plant management. Too many out there don't contribute.
Its still a bxxxxxd of a winter out there again. At least the rivers won't lack water this year.

averageguy
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by averageguy » Thu Feb 28, 2019 2:31 pm

I have had memberships in NWTF, DU, PF, MO Conservation Federation, RMEF for a few decades. Lost track of how many thousands seedlings I have planted (have a big order coming this spring), dug waterholes, built and stocked ponds, terraced and tiled row crop ground, enrolled, planted and maintained CRP and Buffer Strips on multiple different farms and fields, hung bird houses, nest boxes, spraying invasive weeds, burning warm season grasses, edge feathering, TSI, food plots of all kinds.

Count me in on the $ membership support and boots on the ground conservation work. I love seeing wildlife respond and prosper as a result of my habitat work.

RyanDoolittle
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Re: Weather and Habitat Make or Break our Bird Numbers

Post by RyanDoolittle » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:20 pm

Going through this right now on the prairies.

2017 more birds than I have ever seen. Huns were literally everywhere.

That summer we had a bad drought. Cover either didnt grow and what did got eaten by cattle and deer.

Winter 2017/2018 was the worst we have also seen in a long time. Ranchers were plowing snow to feed their cattle in may. I know of quiet a few that had 70% loss on calves, couldnt get to them to keep the babies warm and dry. Snow thaws and there are hundreds of deer-sickles spread across the area.

Late summer 2018 we got out an did bird counts with the biologists. Huns and Sharptails are down 60% from the year before. Pheasants are no better. Still had a drought and cover was better but not where it needed to be. I talked to guys who hunted a week and didnt see more than a handful of covies. Normally we see coveys all over the road in the evenings, I saw 2 all year.

This winter is not nearly as bad as last but again the cover is light. It will be interesting to see whats left when the snow melts and we can saddle up to go take a look. I imagine it will take 3-5 years to build the numbers back up.

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