Researchers from the United States have reported that several bird species – some of them relatively rare – are making extensive use of soybean fields in Illinois. In a recent study, the team from the University of Illinois found significantly more birds and a greater diversity of bird species nesting, roosting and feeding in no-till soybean fields than in tilled fields.

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No-till farming aims to build up water and organic matter in soil, but cultivating land with minimal disruption. The approach has been shown to boost soil life and reduce soil erosion. Although no-till will often require farmers to adopt different management practices it can have significant benefits, and has been increasing in popularity in many regions. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2009 (the most recent year for which data are available) 35.5 percent of U.S. cropland, some 88 million acres, were in no-till production.

The team's research was conducted in 2011 and 2012. Although they found more birds and a greater variety of species in no-till fields, the researchers reported that "nest losses were high… About 80 percent of nests in the no-till fields and more than 90 percent in tilled fields failed as a result of predation or the onset of farm operations before eggs hatched or young birds were ready to fly."

However, the researchers said that, although they seem shocking, the losses reported in no-till fields are not much higher than those expected from pristine grasslands, and that predators accounted for the majority of losses.

Michael Ward, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences at Illinois and an author of the study, said some of the birds using no-till fields are grassland species that have been in decline across the Midwest for decades. He added that some finding some rare species was "exciting" for the researchers.

Ward said, "The upland sandpiper is a state-endangered species. It's doing badly throughout its range. Historically, it probably followed bison herds and liked really short grass, but we don't have that anymore. We found that it's going to these no-till fields where the herbaceous cover early in the year is not that thick – which is what it likes – and we actually found a nest."

According to another author, environmental scientist Jeffrey Brawn, the study adds to the evidence that agricultural practices can have a broad influence on bird abundance and diversity. Brawn said, "Generally row crops are not good for wildlife. They're just not. But this paper shows that in situ agricultural production – depending on how you do it – can have some benefits for wildlife."

Brawn added, "If you look at birds in general or wildlife in general, the ones that did occupy grassland habitat are the ones whose populations have tanked the most. But birds are very resilient, they're very resourceful and they're very flexible, and we can take advantage of that."

In Professor Ward's opinion, the study points to a major opportunity for bird conservation. Rather than buying up modest tracts of land for wildlife preservation, an approach that is minimally effective, he said, farmers and conservationists could work together to maximize the ecological role that no-till lands are already playing in the Midwest.

If farmers could be convinced to plant their soybeans a few days later in the spring, he said, it would increase the nesting success of several bird species. A pilot program in Indiana is testing this approach, compensating farmers for losses that stem from the planting delay.

"There's so much land [under agricultural production] that if only 3 or 4 percent of farmers adopted this approach, it would have a greater effect than all the land that we have in wildlife preserves in Illinois," Ward said.