Welcome to the Pocket Guide for Forestry for the Birds!
Forestry-for-the-Bird-Pocket-Guide-April2022 (1)This is one of two publications in this project, the other being the silvicultural guide for professional foresters. Forestry for the Birds is a collaborative project developed by The Nature Conservancy in Indiana in collaboration with birders, ornithologists, foresters and wildlife biologists. Our goal is to provide strategies that can benefit both forest management and bird communities, facilitating and simplifying the management of bird-friendly forests. This guide is intended as a supporting document for the silvicultural guide, which contains technical guidelines for foresters. Here we provide bird-focused information about habitat management for landowners and managers, but particularly those interested in managing their lands for birds.
Image above: Expansion of counties that will be included in GGS 2.0
The Birders’ Dozen — Indiana
The Birders’ Dozen is a list of twelve species that were carefully selected for inclusion in this project by The Nature Conservancy and an independent team of birders, ornithologists and conservationists. In general, the species on this list: • Nest in the Central Hardwoods ecoregion • Are easy to identify by sight and/or sound • Need conservation action through targeted management, often due to range-wide or local population declines These birds, with a wide range of habitat requirements, offer a place to start for landowners and professional foresters. Management options are presented for each of these twelve birds. However, these options will almost certainly benefit wildlife beyond these twelve birds, and this list should not be considered exhaustive. Instead, we hope it is a starting point for a more bird-friendly forest management.
How to Use This Guide
This guide is intended to be used with the more technical silvicultural guide but is more pocketfriendly with information about each of the dozen birds. This publication is not exhaustive as either a field guide or silvicultural manual but is intended to help users understand how some birds might benefit from forest management. The guide includes identification tips, a description of the song or vocalizations and a description of the species’ habitat, territory, nesting behavior and food sources. Identification tips are provided for birds in the breeding season, though plumage can change throughout the year. For most species, the male’s territorial song is described; many birds have multiple types of vocalizations, so this is not a replacement for a complete field guide. Unless otherwise noted, the remaining descriptions are based on each species’ preferred habitat with the highest chance of reproductive success, though birds often use multiple habitats throughout the year. The guide also describes forestry recommendations across a landscape, allowing landowners to determine appropriate management techniques for their woods. We have also included descriptions of some target tree and shrub species for each bird. Very few birds on our list require a certain tree species, so habitat structure is often a better indicator of suitability. Instead, these trees and shrubs are a starting point for habitat management from a forestry perspective.
Prescribed fire
This guide is intended to be used with the more technical silvicultural guide but is more pocketfriendly with information about each of the dozen birds. This publication is not exhaustive as either a field guide or silvicultural manual but is intended to help users understand how some birds might benefit from forest management. The guide includes identification tips, a description of the song or vocalizations and a description of the species’ habitat, territory, nesting behavior and food sources. Identification tips are provided for birds in the breeding season, though plumage can change throughout the year. For most species, the male’s territorial song is described; many birds have multiple types of vocalizations, so this is not a replacement for a complete field guide. Unless otherwise noted, the remaining descriptions are based on each species’ preferred habitat with the highest chance of reproductive success, though birds often use multiple habitats throughout the year. The guide also describes forestry recommendations across a landscape, allowing landowners to determine appropriate management techniques for their woods. We have also included descriptions of some target tree and shrub species for each bird. Very few birds on our list require a certain tree species, so habitat structure is often a better indicator of suitability. Instead, these trees and shrubs are a starting point for habitat management from a forestry perspective.
Non-native and invasive plant species
Non-native plant species that have overtaken areas are termed invasive. Common examples of invasive woody shrubs in the Central Hardwoods region include bush honeysuckle, multiflora rose and autumn olive. These species outcompete native shrubs and provide less nutritious food for wildlife such as migrating birds. Management plans that seek to benefit native, breeding bird species such as the twelve presented here would benefit greatly from including plans for treatment and removal of invasive species. Resources about management of invasive species for landowners can be found at http://www.sicim.info.
Migratory birds need habitat, too
For many species, habitat requirements during the migratory and wintering seasons are often less stringent than those during the breeding season. In migration especially, a bird’s entire goal is to find sufficient fuel for their journey and shelter from predators. An isolated woodlot or a single tree in a yard, as well as large tracts of contiguous forest, can fulfill these roles for migrating birds, even if they don’t breed in that specific patch. Provision of high-lipid fruitbearing shrubs such as dogwood (rather than non-nutritious, invasive honeysuckle) and native trees such as oaks that support greater abundances of native insects can benefit migratory birds, even in small forest patches or backyards. 10 In addition, simple actions, such as keeping domestic cats indoors and turning off unnecessary lights at night during the migratory season, can help reduce mortality due to cat predation and window collisions.
Small-scale management
A question we receive frequently is, “How can I benefit birds when I don’t have much land, or just a small backyard?” As mentioned above, even simple actions like keeping your cat inside can have huge benefits for birds, regardless of how much land you own. Backyard management for birds can be easy, effective and enjoyable. Planting native trees, shrubs and flowers, avoiding insecticide use, letting clover and grass grow between mowings and providing water features can have beneficial impacts on native pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which many of our target bird species feed on. Birds like Baltimore orioles often use isolated trees in backyards for nesting, and birds such as red-headed woodpeckers and eastern screech-owls use snags, which are easily created in even small woodlots. In short, even simple management actions in the smallest of properties can be important for these charismatic species and others.
