Equestrians are people who love horses and enjoy being with them outdoors. Many stables or breeding facilities are located on large sections of land, often including creeks or sections of wooded habitat that could sustain a healthy population of native birds. The following guidelines are beneficial for both birds and the horse owner, whether you have one horse or an entire stable.
The songbird breeding season lasts from late March through August in California. During this period, songbirds are constantly busy building nests and raising their young. It is during this period that they are most vulnerable to predators, changes in vegetation and food supply. There are many steps that can be taken to make this time a productive one for birds on your land.
We’d like to encourage horse and wildlife lovers to turn their stables into a successful place for bird populations. By providing habitat – especially natural nest sites and foraging areas – you can play an important role in ensuring healthy bird populations for the future. In turn, having birds on your horse ranch will help you with controlling pests such as flies, mosquitos, and rodents.
For more information then what is provided here, contact your local Resource Conservation District. In the Bay Area request a copy of Horse Keeping: A guide to land management and clean water. Prepared by the Council of Bay Area Resource Conservation Districts in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2001. Write to Council of Bay Area Resource Conservation Districts, 1301 Redwood Way, Suite 215 Petaluma, CA 94954.
Preserve and restore existing “on ranch” native habitat.
The best way to begin is to leave and enhance the native vegetation on and around your horse ranch. Native vegetation provides the best nest cover and feeding sites for breeding birds. The following are steps you can take to enhance the existing native habitat on your horse ranch:
- Fence horses and livestock out of creeks, wetlands, lakes and ponds-this will increase the native vegetation around creeks and streams which is crucial for breeding songbirds as well as to help reduce muddy areas around water sources that can cause horse ailments such as thrush, mud fever and scratches. Cost effective watering sources are available to supply your horses with water on dry ground.
- Build water crossings such as culverts, bridges or concrete fords across creeks to enable horses to move between pastures without damaging the creek or other waterways.
- Line pastures and driveways with native trees, shrubs, and grasses to create habitat for birds. This will also eliminate wind, help control weeds toxic to horses such as star thistle, and provide shade for horses. Make sure these areas are fenced to prevent horses from entering. When possible, connect these rows to existing habitat on creeks or other natural areas on your ranch.
- Do not plant non-native trees and shrubs such as eucalyptus, tamarisk, oleander and broom as pature hedgerows or shade trees, or when desiging your jumping, cross-country, and trail courses. Contact your native plant society or nursery specializing in native plants for suggestions on native plants and shrubs appropriate to your area. For a list of native plant societies see PRBO’s website at www.prbo.org.
- Leave dead trees or dead limbs for cavity nesting species such as woodpeckers, bluebirds, nuthatches, Tree Swallows, Ash-throated Flycatchers and Oak Titmouse. These bird friends feed on insects such as flies and mosquitos!
Manage Your Waste!
Runoff from manure piles, wash racks, and grooming areas can pollute the streams and waterways on your ranch. This affects the birds and other wildlife that breed in streamside areas. The following are ways to safely manage your waste:
- Keep manure piles far away from creeks, ponds, lakes, and wetlands.
- Reduce manure piles by either composting manure or arranging for removal by local farmers, gardeners, landscape contractors andmushroom growers or other interested parties.
- Make sure wash rack drains are not emptying into creeks or other waterways.
- Use non-toxic and biodegradable products when grooming and bathing your horse (eg. Orvus shampoo).
Control Predators and Pests!
- Use traps, not cats, to control rodents in hay barns and tack rooms. Cats kill an estimated 4 million birds a day in North America. For more information see the Cats Indoors Program!
- Keep grain in sealed containers in designated feed rooms, and clean up spilled grain immediately to keep from attracting rodents.
- Feed horses in feeders and remove uneaten hay daily. This not only prevents grain and hay from attracting rodents and flocks of non-native birds to stalls and paddocks, but it prevents mud accumulation in winter and can help prevent your horse from ingesting mud or dirt which can lead to sand colic.
Control introduced (non-native) predators:
- Keep cats indoors, especially during the songbird breeding season when vulnerable young birds are just out of the nest. Bells on the collar are not enough. Control mice and rodent populations by the methods suggested above eliminating the need for stable cats.
- Reduce feral cat populations, don’t feed strays and spay and neuter all house cats.
- Eliminate sources of food such as open garbage, uncovered household compost, and outdoor pet dishes that attract raccoons, opossums, jays, and stray cats.
Encourage Nesting Swallows
Barn and Cliff Swallows are insectivorous birds that like to build carefully constructed mud nests under the eaves of roofs on barns and houses. Colonies of swallows provide the invaluable service of free, natural insect control, specializing in flying insects such as flies! The large number of flies associated with stables is one of the reasons swallows choose to breed on so many barns. Do not remove mud nests from barns or buildings.
If you absolutely can't allow swallows to nest on your buildings, here is how you can prevent them from nesting at your site in the first place:
- Discourage swallows from nesting on your house or barn before they get their nest started by eliminating space under eaves. You can place boards or a fine wire mesh (1/2 inch or smaller) at an angle to close up the space under roof overhangs.
- Designate one section of your barn or house to allow swallows to nest.
- Don’t use Tanglefoot or other sticky substances to discourage the birds as it harms their feet and feathers.
