Mowing to help ground-nesting birds

With green-up well and truly upon us, New Yorkers are beginning to think about their spring-cleaning to-do list. High on many people’s priorities is pulling out their mower and beginning the summer-long cycle of mowing the lawns and fields they own. However, the timing of mowing can have significant impacts on a variety of New York bird species. Small grassland songbirds, as well as our largest game bird, the wild turkey, nest on or close to the ground in grassy and shrubby fields. Mowing and bushhogging during the spring and early summer can destroy nests of these species and remove the habitat they require to successfully raise their young.

In New York, the time where ground-nesting birds can be impacted by mowing runs from April 23 – August 15. Instead of mowing during this critical time, the DEC recommends that landowners delay mowing of fields greater than 25 acres until August 16 – October 1, helping these species to successfully nest. While these larger fields are particularly important for grassland songbirds, even smaller grassy and shrubby openings can contain songbird and wild turkey nests. Landowners should carefully consider when and where they focus their mowing efforts during the spring and summer.

Although saving mowing until late August means that the spring-cleaning to-do list remains unchecked well into summer, these best management practices can have outsized benefits for some of our most vulnerable bird species. Across New York, grassland birds have been declining for decades and the timing of mowing can make a huge difference. Save mowing for the end of the summer and enjoy the sight of turkey poults bugging in your fields and hearing the songs of grassland birds floating on the morning air.