Song birds have recently returned to our farm. It is always a welcome reminder of a new growing season. In the last few years we have had approximately twenty mating pairs of bobolinks, a dozen pairs of meadowlarks and six pairs of barn swallows. Since long before I was born, these bird species and many others have been raising their young here on our century farm, then spending the winter months far to the south. For our family the return of the song birds has always been a delight.
Unfortunately, the introduction of the Endangered Species Act forced many farmers to look at these birds as a potential menace. The fine print in the act's regulations shows zero tolerance for disturbing the habitat of these birds during the hatching and growing season. For the bobolink and the meadow lark, habitat is hay and pasture fields. In theory farmers can no longer harvest or pasture these farmlands on a timely basis. Never mind that these birds have thrived during the last century in hay and pasture fields that were harvested.
The reason these song birds are considered endangered is that their numbers have declined in recent years. The base year was only a few years or perhaps a few decades ago. What is often not considered is that these bird species became common only after the first settlers cleared trees to make room for grassland. Essentially, these birds followed the settlers. Before my ancestors cleared the land on our farm there were no bobolinks or meadowlarks. The settlers created the grassland habitat that allowed these songbirds to thrive. That ideal grassland habitat created by the settlers is being replaced by annual crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat as those are the most profitable crops for farmers to produce. Regrettably, these crops are not conducive to these songbirds or their habitat.
Barn swallows did not thrive until the settlers, my ancestors, built the barns. The barn swallow habitat is inside open doors of farm livestock barns. Modern agriculture is changing their habitat as bank barns are disappearing from the landscape; they are being replaced by bio-secure buildings. This move to modern livestock barns means less habitat for barn swallows.
The Endangered Species Act and its regulations are in place. The Ontario government wisely gave farmers a few years exemption from the totally unrealistic regulation. Onerous regulatory burdens can produce unintended negative consequences. A balanced approach, focused on dialogue with the farm community, the triple bottom line approach and recognition of the complexity of modern agriculture, has a much better chance of leading to positive results for all interested groups.
Source: CFFO