wildlife management: nongame birds

The majority of land in the Southeast is in private ownership. Private landowners can integrate wildlife habitat management techniques into their agriculture production or pine stands to improve environmental quality or improve or increase wildlife habitat for nongame and game birds. Homeowners can increase wildlife habitat in their backyards by providing food, cover, water, and nesting sites. The publications listed below cover the range from homeowners to producers and the methods and benefits and costs of managing these properties for wildlife habitat.

These resources have been compiled from various resources and agencies and are provided here for educational purposes only. Please if you find information that needs to be updated, broken links, or if you have an additional resource you feel is pertinent.

• Mississippi Recreational Gardens: Establishing a Backyard Wildlife Habitat
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. All wildlife requires food, water and shelter to survive. This publication discusses providing those necessities in a backyard environment. Detailed information is given on how to attract birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, bats, snakes, lizards, toads and frogs. Information is also provided on controlling deer, rodents, and other animals that are considered pests. Management tips are given for making your backyard the best habitat possible including an example and how to create a trail.
• Plants That Attract Birds and Other Wildlife
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. This listing of plants provides the common and scientific names of plants that can be used to attract birds and other wildlife in your backyard. Light requirements and landscape uses of these plants are also listed.
  
• Landscaping to Attract Birds
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Landscaping your backyard to provide habitat, food, and shelter for birds can lead to an increase of bird watching opportunities for you and your family. This publication provides a listing of benefits of landscaping for birds, the basics of landscaping for birds, what plants you can plant for wild birds, how to get starting landscaping, and a list of additional resources.
• Wildlife habitat in your backyard: make a home for birds, butterflies, and nature's other creatures
  Natural Resources Conservation Service. Provides the steps for creating backyard habitat for wildlife. Specifically covers landscaping and plant species for birds as well as providing additional food and cover for birds. Also provides information on food and shelter for butterflies, attracting bees, bats, reptiles and amphibians.
• Managing Forest Land for Nongame Birds (2006)
  Virginia Department of Forestry. Forested land provides habitat for many bird species. However, managing for both year-round bird residents and migratory birds requires a little planning. This resource provides suggestions for habitat management for multiple bird species and seasonal migrants. Some of the habitats and birds discussed may be specific to Virginia.
• Bird Houses for Songbirds
  Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. Birds can be attracted to backyard habitats by providing nesting boxes. Bluebirds, robins, chickadees, tufted titmouse, wrens, and purple martins all use bird houses. This publications covers how to build bird houses for specific species including providing predator control measures. Different dimensions and heights are required for different birds. Details of construction and drawings are provided.
• Conservation Buffers: Wildlife Benefits in Southeastern Agricultural Systems
  Mississippi State University Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Conservation buffers include filter strips, riparian buffers, grass waterways, and field borders. These practices used in conjunction with land management for timber and agriculture can enhance wildlife habitat, provide erosion control, and reduce herbicide runoff. This publication discusses the different types of conservation buffers, the environmental benefits, and the economic benefit to farmers.
• Conservation Buffers
  By Wes and Leslie Burger, Wildlife Trends. Vol. 5 Issue 2, March/April 2005. Private landowners can improve wildlife habitat and provide other environmental benefits through practices such as conservation buffers that are easily integrated with production agriculture. Field borders may also benefit the farmer economically by taking low-yielding field margins and enrolling them in cost-share programs. This article discusses the many types of conservation buffers and the benefits that each type can provide. In addition, it provides information on the conservation programs that can provide assistance with the installation of field borders.
• Farm-level Habitat Management for Bobwhite Quail and Other Farm Wildlife
  MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Practices that agricultural producers can use to increase or improve wildlife habitat on their lands are discussed in this brochure. A brief discussion of managing vegetative buffers, grassland habitat, and woodlands for wildlife habitat is given as well as a mention of the cost-share programs available.
• A Landowner's Guide to Native Warm Season Grasses in the Mid-South
  University of Tennessee. Native warm season grasses can be utilized to provide wildlife habitat and forage for domestic animals. Common native warm season grasses include big bluestem, little bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sideoats grama, and eastern gamagrass. Identification, management, and uses for each grass is provided in this publication.
  
• Pine Forestland Habitat Management for Wildlife
  Delta Wildlife, MSU-FWRC, MDWFP, MS Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mississippi Forestry Commission, USDA-NRCS, USDA FSA. Pine forests can be managed to provide wildlife habitat using a variety of techniques, some of which can improve timber stand quality. Established stands can be managed with thinning, prescribed fire or disking, and even herbicide control of hardwoods which can provide food and cover for quail and grassland species, deer, rabbits, turkey and other wildlife. Regenerating stands can be managed to provide weeds, legumes, and grasses that benefit quail and other early successional wildlife species. Even former agricultural fields can be managed for grassland habitat in conjunction with pine production to include wildlife habitat. The methods for management in these different types of pine stands are discussed in this booklet, providing a detailed overview as well as information on landowner assistance program such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and Conservation Security Program.
  
• Mississippi's Conservation Reserve Program CP33 - Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds: Mississippi Bird Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 2006 Annual Report
  Mississippi State University, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, USDA Farm Service Agency, Forest and Wildlife Research Center. CP33 field borders or habitat buffers are designed to benefit quail and other grassland bird populations. A research program was initiated in 2006 to study the effects of CP33 native grass habitat buffers on bird populations in Mississippi. The results of this study are presented in this report.
• Native Warm-Season Grass Restoration in Mississippi - Mississippi State University. This publication defines native warm season grasses, lists examples of the types of warm season grasses and provides labeled drawings of the types. It describes the benefits of restoring native grasses and how to do so. Information is provided on keeping different nonnative grass species under control. Information is also given on choosing and planting grass species in a way that restores ecosystems and is advantageous to wildlife or creates livestock forage. Use of periodic disturbances is also covered along with contact information for organizations that assist with management of warm season grasses.