Restoration to Create or Enhance Shorebird Habitat

Plauny, H.L. 2000. Shorebirds. Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet Number 17. NRCS, USDA.

• Shorebirds occupy a wide range of environments:

– Coastal, saline and freshwater wetlands

– Flooded agricultural fields

– Interior grasslands

– Arctic tundra

• Shorebirds:

– Small bodies

– Long, thin legs for wading

– Three unwebbed toes point forward, hind toe reduced or absent

– Beaks various and adapted for specific foraging

– Life spans greater than 10 y not uncommon

• Migration

– Thousands of miles between Arctic nesting grounds and Central and South American wintering grounds.

– North American sites along migration routes are critical for supplying energy for migration.

• Declining numbers

– Wetland habitat alteration has contributed to declines in many species.

• Shorebird food

– Aquatic insects

– Crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates

– Terrestrial invertebrates

– Small fish

– Reptiles and amphibians

– Plants (minor part of diet)

Drut, M.S. and J.B. Buchanan. 2000. U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. Northern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Management Plan. USFWS, Portland, Oregon.

• Management and restoration goals

– Restore wetland habitat where it has been lost to agriculture or development

– Remove and control exotic vegetation such as reed canarygrass, purple loosestrife

– Plant or manage for native vegetation, conducive to shorebird use, in restored habitat

– Manage water levels and vegetation to create conditions suitable for wintering or migrating waterfowl

– Mow and disk vegetation to be flooded during fall migration and winter

– In agricultural areas, use crop management practices that are compatible with shorebird use at a landscape scale. Refrain from tiling.

Harrington, B.A. 2003. Shorebird management during the non-breeding season – an overview of needs, opportunities and management concepts. Water Study Group Bulletin 100: 59-66.

• Managing non-marine wetlands

• Substrate

– Muddier substrate has higher invertebrate count

– Probing birds like softer substrate

– Birds feeding on bottom surface are indifferent to soil character

• Water depth

– Many shorebirds prefer water < 12 cm deep

• Sandpipers, plovers, rails, dabbling ducks

– Some use water 12 to 25 cm

• Herons, ibises

– Others like deeper water

• Grebes, loons, diving ducks

• Chronology

– Different species migrate at different times

– Managed water levels should provide shallow water or bare flats when a particular species is present

• Food resources

– Birds feed on invertebrates

• Need to produce sufficient organic matter and conditions for decay to sustain invertebrates

– May be done by tilling vegetation into the soil, then flooding

– Invertebrates can be made available to shorebirds by slowly drawing water down

• Drawdown too rapid causes mud to dry and harden

• Water too deep makes resource inaccessible

• Gradual drawdown, exposing muddy habitat, is best

• Vegetation

– During non-breeding season, most shorebirds prefer habitat with little vegetative cover

• Usually avoid areas with poor visibility because of raptors

– Translates into open, muddy habitat over 2/3 of a managed site.

• Disking to open up a site also provides organic material for invertebrates

– Rails prefer thick vegetation