Home
Long-billed curlews are among the species of shorebirds that nest in winter wheat.
Long-billed curlews found nesting in winter wheat 
Birds, producers benefit from fall-seeded crop
Oak Hammock Marsh, Man., June 19, 2007—With more than 1.2 million acres of winter wheat being planted across Canada last year, it appears as though the fall-seeded crop is indeed delivering the “green” for producers. Now there is more good news in that winter wheat fields near Hussar, Alberta are also delivering long-billed curlews, a large shorebird that has drawn widespread concern about their low populations.
“We discovered five long-billed curlew nests in our winter wheat research areas,” said Jim Devries, a research biologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). “This is really great news since this species was thought to nest primarily in native grassland and it is considered relatively rare. The fact that this species will use winter wheat is encouraging in that the expansion of this crop type may provide benefits to more than just ducks.”
Winter wheat acres have been increasing with continued success in Prairie Canada. Reduced pesticide input costs, the ability to spread the workload and improved marketing opportunities are factors in the crop’s expansion. These factors have contributed toward winter wheat providing superior financial returns compared to spring wheat alternatives. Producers involved in a recent DUC winter wheat program made $27/ac more on winter wheat than they did on spring wheat. The crop is of specific interest to DUC since it is seeded in the fall and remains generally undisturbed through the following growing season when most birds are nesting. It also provides a more attractive nesting habitat for ducks than spring-seeded cropland.
The Hussar site is part of a three-year DUC research project examining the use of croplands and grasslands by nesting birds in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Throughout the research project, DUC has been finding that many ground-nesting ducks and shorebirds will use winter wheat for nesting and they are generally very successful at hatching nests in this crop type. Other shorebirds nesting in winter wheat have included marbled godwit and willets. DUC biologists and agrologists have quietly hypothesized that the benefit associated with winter wheat and waterfowl could also apply to other ground nesting birds. It appears their thoughts are now ringing true.
“We believe winter wheat is a true win-win crop type for agriculture and conservation,” said Devries. “The fact we have found nests of other bird species as well as waterfowl nesting in winter wheat is a clear indication that we are on the right track here.”
For more information or photos, contact:
Leigh Patterson
Corporate Media Relations Specialist
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Phone: (204) 467-3306
Email: l_patterson@ducks.ca
