If permitted by your conservation restriction (CR), you can manage your fields to provide good habitat for native wildlife:
- Open areas smaller than 10 acres provide food and refuge for many species, including pollinators and migrating birds.
- Areas that are 10 acres or larger provide habitat for many field-nesting bird species. Because such large open areas are rare in Massachusetts, scientists consider field-nesting bird species such as bobolinks, upland sandpipers, and eastern meadowlarks to be imperiled.
Field management is similar for small and large fields, as both require mowing to prevent woody plants from becoming established. To promote bird and pollinator habitat, mowing should be completed before May 15 or after August 15. (If you have flowering plants in bloom in mid-August, please delay mowing until later in the fall.)