Landowners invited to learn about how to manage woodlands for bird species

One of the joys of woodlands is the birds who make their home there, from upland game birds like ruffed grouse and woodcock to migratory songbirds like warblers and vireos. Whether you enjoy hunting, birding, or both, did you know that active forest management can make a huge difference in attracting birds to your land and helping them thrive?

At an upcoming webinar and three field days, landowners can learn how to use sustainable forestry practices to create bird habitat while also generating quality timber. These events are a collaboration between the Wisconsin Center for Wildlife, the Wisconsin Forestry Center, and UW–Madison Extension Forestry.

At the webinar on Friday, June 6, Mike Demchik (UW–Stevens Point Professor of Forestry) and Jason Riddle (UW–Stevens Point Wildlife Specialist) will discuss their successes in using sustainable timber harvesting, invasive plant control, and prescribed fire to create beneficial habitat for native forest birds.

The demonstration site tours are on Saturdays—June 14 in Clark County, June 21 in Portage County, and June 28 in Taylor County. You can attend one, two, or all three field days.

The tours will showcase practices that benefit ruffed grouse, woodcock, wood thrushes, veeries, scarlet tanagers, woodpeckers, vireos, eastern towhees, swamp sparrows, sedge wrens, and many warbler species. Attendees will learn about aspen coppice, oak thinning, shelterwood, conversion to uneven-aged stands, overstory removal, invasive woody species control, storm damage management, prescribed fire, sedge meadows, forested wetlands, old-growth forests, and more.

Learn more and register by visiting go.wisc.edu/birdsforestry.