New Blog- Rice Growers and Scientists track Shorebirds

PRBO’s Shorebird Connectivity Project aims to further enhance the value of rice fields for birds

By Blake Barbaree

Rice growers provide critical habitat for wintering shorebirds in the Central Valley of California.  It’s thought that shorebirds move regularly between flooded rice and nearby wetlands during the winter, but no scientific proof exists.

In August 2012, PRBO Conservation Science, through the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership with Audubon California and The Nature Conservancy, initiated a two-year research project to figure out how shorebirds move among the mosaic of flooded rice fields and wetlands in the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Basin.  To find the answer, researchers are capturing and attaching VHF radio-tags to Long-billed Dowitchers and Dunlin, two of the most common wintering shorebirds in the Central Valley, allowing their movements and locations to be tracked by plane throughout the winter. 

 

These birds nest on the Arctic tundra in northern Alaska and northwest Canada during summer months, and most birds rely on a mix of flooded agriculture and wetlands in winter and during migration.  Our study will find out how and why shorebirds move around the landscape and measure the distances that shorebirds move.  This information will help wildlife managers, farmers, and conservation partners identify the timing and locations that management practices will most efficiently enhance shorebird habitat in rice and wetlands.

Capturing shorebirds for this research project is a considerable challenge.  The hardest part in this study is finding and accessing areas where shorebirds can reliably be found.  Luckily, several Colusa County rice growers teamed up with the researchers and helped attract shorebirds to their fields.

Last November and December, growers maintained exceptionally “shorebird-friendly” fields; soft, muddy substrate with generally less than six inches of standing water to attract the birds.  Farmers created this habitat by allowing some, but not all, water to drain from several adjacent flooded fields.  This assistance from growers enabled PRBO to capture nine Long-billed Dowitchers and 47 Dunlin in flooded rice fields this winter. Bird capture is always conducted with the bird’s safety in mind, and trained researchers are on hand at all times. 

Looking forward to next winter, PRBO Conservation Science is seeking new partnerships with rice growers throughout the Sacramento Valley. 

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Blake Barbaree is an Avian Ecologist at PRBO Conservation Science. If you have questions on the project or are interested in partnering with PRBO, please contact him at (541) 740-2337 or bbarbaree@prbo.org.