Wildlife & Habitat
Conservation - Partners In Flight
Nevada Partners in Flight (PIF)
PIF is a group of conservation groups, state and federal agencies, and research institutions, have identified bird species in Nevada that are declining. One of the goals identified in the PIF Bird Conservation Plan is to work with Nevada’s farmers, ranchers, and other private landowners to reverse the decline of these “priority species” by protecting and conserving their critical habitat.Wetlands & Lakes
Nevada’s wetlands and lakes are critical to the success of more than 100 species of birds. These species depend on farmers and ranchers managing their land and water with conservation in mind.
Nevada’s wetlands include a variety of perennial and ephemeral marshes, open waters, and playas that are located across the state. Many of Nevada’s Great Basin marshes provide habitat that is unique to the world. As established in the Clean Water Act, wetlands are generally defined by the extent of water and type of aquatic vegetation found therein. An estimated 267,074 acres of emergent marsh, 183,747 acres of open water, and 758,020 acres of playa wetlands occur in Nevada. These wetlands provide a variety of habitats that are critically important to bird migration, nesting, foraging, and cover.
Existing in a desert climate, Nevada’s wetlands are highly dependent upon conservation and proper use of available water. In order to support priority species, an adequate quantity and quality of water must be available to support the entire ecology of each of Nevada’s wetland habitats. The way that ranchers and farmers seasonally manage their water can make all the difference for wildlife. For instance, calling for water, flood irrigating fields, and discharging waters to drains are all opportunities for wildlife to benefit from existing resources. Cooperative efforts are essential to maintaining the state’s wetland habitats.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Agricultural Lands
Nevada’s agricultural lands are critical to the success of more than 100 species of birds. These species depend on farmers and ranchers managing their lands with conservation in mind.
Most of Nevada’s agricultural lands are in valley bottoms and floodplains. Irrigated cropland and pastureland are distributed throughout the state and cover approximately six million acres. The majority of the crops grown are hay, wheat, and potatoes.
Native vegetative communities adjacent to agricultural lands include greasewood-sagebrush in the north, and salt desert shrub-creosote in the south. Farming practices such as growing hay, leaving stubble on harvested grain fields, and flood irrigation, all contribute to nesting and feeding habitat for wildlife. Rotating land uses, and resting pastures or adjusting application times can give nesting birds the time and space necessary to successfully reproduce.
Private landowners have an important role to play in the conservation of many of Nevada’s bird species. Strategies designed to improve overall land condition, such as restoration of vegetation in stream and river corridors, can have positive results for both birds and land productivity. Since birds do not utilize a single vegetation type for all of their life processes, they benefit when land managers can maintain a mixture of
habitats. Even small patches of shrubs and/or perennial grasses can have value for wildlife. If native shrubs are not available, they can be planted under cost-share programs.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Lowland Riparian
Nevada’s lowland rivers are critical to more than 100 species of birds for breeding, nesting, migration, and wintering. Since much of Nevada’s lowland river floodplains as well as water flows have been appropriated for agricultural use, these species are dependent on farmers and ranchers managing their lands with conservation in mind.
Lowland rivers are those associated with the floodplains of Nevada’s major river systems occurring below 5,000 feet elevation in the northern half of the state and below 4,000 feet elevation in the southern half of the state. The major river systems in Nevada include the Humboldt, Truckee, Carson, Walker, Colorado and Virgin rivers. Other major tributaries include Mary’s, Reese, Little Humboldt, and Muddy rivers.
Farming and flood irrigation practices contribute to the maintenance of nesting and foraging habitat for wildlife on lowland river floodplains. Private landowners have an important role to play in the conservation of many of Nevada’s bird species. Bird conservation objectives and commercial or agricultural objectives can coexist in harmony. Strategies designed to improve overall land condition, such as restoration of vegetation in riparian areas, can have positive impacts on both birds and land productivity. Rotating land uses (such as grass hay harvest and livestock grazing) with resting of pastures and adjusting application times can give nesting birds the time and space necessary to successfully reproduce. Thoughtful and creative approaches to use of open space in urban development design can dually address the open space needs of human and avian residents.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Mahogany
In Nevada, curl leaf mountain mahogany is generally found in close association with mountain big sage, Utah juniper, singleleaf pinyon and cliff/talus habitats at elevations from 5,000 to 10,000 feet. Mahogany often occupies xeric, rocky, steep hillsides, and provides a woodland habitat for numerous wildlife species in conditions that are unsuitable for most other tree species. Individual trees are slow growing and can live over 700 years. If improper grazing occurs, this habitat type can be vulnerable to cheatgrass invasion. Once these sites are burned, annual grasses and forbs will dominate and mountain mahogany will rarely reach maturity. Mountain mahogany provides canopy and ground-nesting cover as well as security cover for several bird species. Mahogany also provides forage for insectivorous and seed-eating bird species.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Mesquite & Catclaw
Nevada’s mesquite and catclaw habitats are important for a considerable number of birds for breeding, nesting, migration activity, and wintering. While much of the mesquite habitat in southern Nevada occurs on private land and catclaw habitat occurs primarily on public land, urban development pressures and the corresponding conversion of public lands to private development in the region affects the well being of both habitat types. In addition, the practice of gravel extraction from the washes of the region for road construction has particularly targeted the catclaw habitat for negative impacts.
Mesquite is found in isolated patches throughout Clark County and southern Lincoln and Nye counties. Mesquite habitat is found along washes and riparian areas and at the edges of dry lake beds where soils are deep and water is somewhat close to the surface. Catclaw is known for its cat-like thorns that often grab at passersby, and is generally distributed along the wash systems throughout southern Nevada. Both habitat types can be infected with mistletoe, which greatly enhances their value to fruit-eating birds.
Private landowners often own parcels of land that have patches of mesquite and, to a lesser extent, catclaw. Even small patches of mesquite can add great value to a parcel’s wildlife habitat. Often landowners can maintain the value of these habitats by merely leaving the habitat in its current condition or minimizing any cutting of mesquite for firewood. Developers can minimize project impacts by maintaining mesquite habitat on their open-space parcels and designing linkage corridors of natural habitat parcels through the development to minimize habitat fragmentation. Landowners with catclaw habitats on their properties should be aware that gravel extraction in wash bottoms is particularly destructive to catclaw corridors.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Mojave Desert
Nevada’s Mojave Desert, typified by the creosote bush shrub community, is home to a unique community of resilient bird species admirably adapted to survive in this often harsh, unforgiving environment. There was a time when the Mojave shrub type was hardly a concern of the private landowner, but the recent explosion of urban growth in the region and the extensive conversion of public lands to private ownership has made conservation of the Mojave shrub habitat critical.
Since 1989, vast tracts of land in the Mojave Desert have been conserved primarily due to the federal listing of the desert tortoise. This has resulted in significant protection of Mojave bird species. The private landowner or developer has opportunities to contribute to the conservation effort within urbanized lands by providing a connection between those protected tracts through creative design and management of open space lands within developments. The greatest impact of land development on the Mojave shrub type has been the direct bulldozing and removal of the native vegetation itself.While in many instances this practice is unavoidable, opportunities do exist to maintain native vegetation within developed lands. Even small patches of desert shrub habitats can have value for wildlife, but significantly more value is realizedwhen small tracts of native vegetation are linked together to provide corridors of bird movement through a development. Preserving larger tracts of habitat provides the necessary space for more breeding pairs.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
Sagebrush
Nevada’s sagebrush community is critical to the success of more than 50 species of birds. Some bird species use this habitat type exclusively. Twenty-eight species of sagebrush occurs in Nevada, most commonly in valleys and mountain ranges north of the Mojave Desert from 4,500 to 10,000 feet elevation.
Sagebrush exists as the lone plant type across extensive areas or in mixed landscapes with other plant types including pinyon-juniper, mountain mahogany, montane shrub, montane riparian, aspen, and conifers.
Sagebrush provides habitat for a variety of bird species. In the upper elevations, sage brush communities provide nesting, foraging and cover for the Brewer’s sparrow, white-crowned sparrow and black rosy finch. Mid-elevation sage brush with mountain brush, deciduous and conifer forests are critical habitats for the green-tailed towhee, vesper sparrow, northern goshawk, northern harrier, golden eagle, gray-crowned finch and black rosy finch. Lower elevation sagebrush communities with low rainfall, are home to loggerhead shrike, sage sparrow, black-throated sparrow, Brewer’s sparrow, vesper sparrow, gray flycatcher, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, sage thrasher and the western meadowlark. The greater sage grouse moves seasonally between all three habitats. Sage grouse will breed in multiple elevations depending on snowpack. The birds rely on riparian areas and wet meadows for brood rearing activities. In the fall and winter months, the birds move to upland areas as their diet shifts to sagebrush.
View the entire document that defines the priority bird species and recommended conservation practices for that species.
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