Commission restores rule to help farmers help birds

Farmers who take steps to let tricolored blackbird fledglings grow up and leave the nest will still be protected in the event of incidental takings, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission has decided.

The bird is a candidate for listing under the California Endangered Species Act and has full protection pending a final decision. An incidental take is when such an animal or bird is inadvertently killed.

At its meeting in Rohnert Park last week, the commission heard from several speakers, including Noelle Cremers, California Farm Bureau Federation director of natural resources and commodities. An emergency incidental-take regulation was enacted last year, and after it expired, Cremers petitioned for a renewal.

Without the regulation, she said, a farmer who did everything possible to preserve the colony but unintentionally killed a bird would be in violation.

"This gives our members who have colonies and agree to protect them that protection," Cremers said. Last year, she said, "all of the farms that had colonies protected them. That was an estimated 62,000 tricolors."

A program to help the birds was put together through the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service. Partners include CFBF, Western United Dairymen, Dairy Cares, Audubon California and Sustainable Conservation.

"We collaborate directly with NRCS to provide technical and financial assistance to farmers who have tricolored blackbird colonies in their crop fields," said Samantha Arthur, a project manager for Audubon in Sacramento.

The tricolored blackbird is a colonial species, Cremers said, meaning that during nesting season, the birds all gather together to hatch and raise their young. They may do this twice in a year, she said, first in the southern San Joaquin Valley and then in the Sacramento Valley. Nesting season in the southern San Joaquin Valley typically starts in late February.

"Historically, they nested in wetlands," Cremers said. "But they figured out that the silage fields—the small grain crops, which is primarily triticale—that are planted around dairies provide great nesting habitat."

Nearby alfalfa fields can host insects that blackbirds feed on, she added.

Arthur said the NRCS program works this way: If a farmer has a colony in his or her field, and harvest time conflicts with the nesting cycle, that farmer can receive financial assistance to offset some of the losses from having to delay harvest in order to protect the colony. Farmers in the program also have the assistance of a biologist to determine the presence, location and size of a colony, she said.

One dairy farmer who has used the program, Frank Mendonsa of Tipton, said his farm became home to a pair of colonies in 2015.

"I had a very positive experience, and I was glad to help," Mendonsa said. "I don't know a lot about birds, so I told them we would do anything and everything we could, regardless of the program. We wouldn't harvest until the birds had left."

Normally, a 100-foot buffer zone will be observed around the colony, which can range from 10 to 80 acres in size, Arthur said.

"They can harvest around that colony with the technical assistance of a biologist, either from Audubon or NRCS, that helps designate where the colony is," Arthur said.

When the birds can fly, the farmer will be cleared to harvest the affected area.

Arthur said farmers who notice tricolored blackbirds on their land should call their local NRCS field office as soon as possible for an assessment. If a biologist confirms the presence of a colony, the farmer can then start the program paperwork at the field office.

(Kevin Hecteman is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)