Burning for the Birds

When most birders hear about wildfires, they imagine a tragic loss of bird habitat and food sources. While raging fires are certainly destructive, they can also be beneficial to different bird species, and controlled burns are a tactic that the U.S. Forest Service is using to improve habitats for the Henslow’s sparrow in Ohio.

According to an article in Black Hills Today, the controlled burn will keep a large area of open grassland available as breeding grounds for the birds by limiting the impact of invasive plants and encroaching woody plants. This tactic is also used on many other public lands to help control fire danger levels and as an overall land management technique.

Grass Fire
Photo © Ryan Junell