Flint Hills, Tall Grass

Meadowlark (Image: Western meadowlark. Credit: Doug Greenberg.)

Not all birds live in trees. Many kinds of birds love to live in grass, including songbirds like meadowlarks and dickcissels, and prairie specialists like the famed greater prairie chicken. Even killdeers and upland sandpipers, birds related to long-legged shorebirds, have made a home in the tallgrass prairie.

Recently, some of these birds have been in the news. Researchers spent some time in the Flint Hills over the past few years studying dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows, and eastern meadowlarks.

I’m not what you would call an avid birdwatcher. I’ve only recently learned to identify a dickcissel (hint: it’s easier if they are singing). I’m still not totally confident in distinguishing eastern and western meadowlarks (but I do know the western version is the state bird of Kansas). And I’m very sure I don’t know the difference between a grasshopper sparrow and many of the other sparrow species in the prairie (my birdwatching friends are certainly rolling their eyes at that confession).

I do know, however, birdwatchers get excited when they catch a glimpse of these species. I also know these and other prairie-loving birds are important elements of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. It’s another reason to love the Flint Hills, for their protection of the tall grasses that grow here and the birds that make their home in the grass.

So I was interested when Kansas State published an article a few weeks ago, summarizing the results of the aforementioned research on the population numbers of these three prairie birds. I hope you take a moment to read the article. Basically, the researchers found the numbers of dickcissels, eastern meadowlarks, and grasshopper sparrows are in sharp decline. Much of the reason for the decline comes from the way the prairie is managed. Basically, there is less cover in the Flint Hills for these bird species to make their nests.

The article says burning and grazing practices in the flint hills have eliminated much of the cover these birds require to protect their nests from predators. As I understand it, in my non-scientific way, these birds make nests in stands of tall grasses in the spring, hiding the eggs from raccoons, possums, and other egg-eating predators. When the grasses are short from grazing or burning, these nests are more exposed.

The article from K-State has made the internet rounds in recent weeks. The associated press even picked up the story and sent out edited versions on the newswire.  Papers like the Topeka Capital-Journal have run their own versions of the article. The article has also made its way into online science magazines and science blogs. The AP version of the story was cut short and The Kansas City Star recently ran this shortened version. For a couple of weeks after the K-State story was issued, it seemed a version of the story was being published almost every day.

Adding fuel to the (prairie) fire, another study was recently published, called the State of the Birds Report. This report, like the K-State story, finds declining bird populations across the country. It was also widely reported in many nationwide outlets and one blogger from the Nature Conservancy looked at grassland birds in the report and found reason to be concerned.

So what’s my point in all this listing of links to studies and newspaper stories? I’ve had some conversations lately with some folks who have misunderstood part of the reasons for bird declines. The point of this rambling is this: don’t throw out the baby with with the bathwater, or in this case, don’t throw out the baby chick with the nest — or something like that.

A quick read of some of the published articles, especially the condensed AP versions, might lead readers to believe prairie burning and grazing is all bad and should be eliminated to save the birds. The articles seem to imply burning and grazing have removed all the habitat for these grass-loving birds.

I only want to point out it is fire and grazing that have preserved the grassland habitat. Without fire, the whole tallgrass prairie would have been lost to an invasion of woody plants (i.e. trees) a long time ago. Without grazing, many other crucial prairie plants would have been lost. We need to continue burning (a post on that is coming soon I hope) and grazing.

It is, however, the amount and frequency of burning and grazing that have caused problems for our feathered friends. Too much grazing and too frequent burning leaves very little protection of tall grasses in the spring. The birds need to hide in the tall grasses. Too little grazing and burning not often enough would also endanger the very prairie the birds need to survive.

There are ranchers who understand this and have experimented with patch burning, or burning practices that use fire on portions of their pasture land on a three-year, rotating cycle. That burning regime keeps out woody plants and some other invasive species, produces grass for their cattle, and still preserves cover for birds to hide their nests from predators.

It is tough, however, to find the right balance. The ranchers need lots of grass to feed lots of cattle, or their operation will not succeed financially. But good prairie health is important and the ranchers understand that as well.

This oversimplifies the issues, I’m afraid, but it gives some insight,  I hope, into the discussion these news stories have generated. So whatever you do, do not throw out the baby birds with the bath water.