SHOREBIRD USE OF MANAGED WETLANDS IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL VALLEY

We assessed shorebird use of artificial wetlands within the Mississipp i Alluvial Valley during the winters of 1991-1992 and 1992-1993 and du ring the autumn of 1994. On agricultural fields managed to provide hab itat for waterfowl from November to March, mean shorebird density was 58.6 birds/100 ha, but shorebird densities were greater on soybean fie lds than on rice or moist-soil fields. Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) and common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) were common throughout winter, but shorebird abundance and species richness along survey routes incr eased from November through April. During the late summer and autumn, wetlands on public lands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley are manage d by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specifically to provide foragi ng habitat for shorebirds. From August through October 1994, we observ ed 14,564 individual shorebirds of 22 species using these anthropogeni c wetlands, Mean shorebird density on wetlands managed by flooding pre viously dry, disked fields was 695 birds/100 ha, whereas mean density on wetlands managed by drawing down water reservoirs was 1224 birds/10 0 ha. We recommend increased shallow-water flooding of agricultural fi elds, particularly soybean fields, during winter to provide habitat fo r wintering and early spring migrant shorebirds. More importantly, we recommend continued water management on public wetlands from July thro ugh October, peferably by drawing down water reservoirs, to provide fo raging habitat for southward migrating shorebirds.