Late season hay harvest provides habitat for marshland birds

Bird habitat along the Ash Creek Wildlife Area in California has been sustained since 1986 through haying of the nonnative and alkaline marsh grasses. Harvests are timed after the primary nesting period of the sandhill cranes and marsh-nesting species. The abundance and diversity of birds on these hayed plots was found to be equal or greater to the abundance and diversity of species on comparable nonhayed plots, according to 1996 studies. Sandhill cranes also were more abundant on the hayed plots, where they spent more time foraging and less time monitoring and protecting. Haying is thus a good management tool to maintain a habitat suitable for a diverse assemblage of species.