{"id":7921,"date":"2014-11-03T21:31:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T21:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=7921"},"modified":"2019-10-10T14:45:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T18:45:27","slug":"help-conserve-bird-habitat-by-putting-california-rice-on-your-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/help-conserve-bird-habitat-by-putting-california-rice-on-your-plate\/","title":{"rendered":"Help Conserve Bird Habitat by Putting California Rice on Your Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want to support bird habitat on your dinner plate? Consider swapping out potatoes with California rice. Rice farms in that state&#8217;s Central Valley provide critical migratory shorebird habitat, thanks in part to <a href=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/2014\/10\/31\/moneyball-for-shorebirds-how-precision-analytics-are-changing-habitat-conservation\/\">an innovative collaboration between eBird, The Nature Conservancy, and California rice farmers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" id=\"hs-cta-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3.png\"  alt=\"New self-paced course: Learn How to Identify Bird Songs, Click to Learn More\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(95627, 'a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3', {}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<!--<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\" id=\"hs-cta-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\">-->\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <!--<a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\"  target=\"_blank\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd.png\"  alt=\"Join the Cornell Lab\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>-->\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>California rice fields are habitat for 187 species of birds. In winter, flooded rice fields provide hundreds of thousands of acres of wet habitat for 5 to 7 million ducks (or nearly 60 percent of all waterfowl migrating along the Pacific Flyway each year). The Sacramento Valley and its rice fields are designated as habitat of international importance in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whsrn.org\/western-hemisphere-shorebird-reserve-network\">Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With 95 percent of the natural wetlands in the Central Valley drained and gone, rice fields provide a decent habitat surrogate. One acre of rice provides two-thirds of the waterfowl food found in an acre of wetland, and most rice fields have been established on private lands that previously saw other, less bird-friendly agricultural uses. With only about 200,000 acres of wetlands left in the Central Valley, flooded rice fields actually triple the amount of wet habitat available to birds. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stateofthebirds.org\/2013\">2013 State of the Birds report<\/a> called rice fields \u201ca cornerstone of wintering waterbird habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Dunlins-Kelly.jpg\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"dunlins in a california rice field\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Dunlins forage in a California rice field. <em>Photo by Drew Kelly.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Perhaps the poster bird for California rice is the White-faced Ibis. The ibis population in the state had declined to below 200 individuals in 1977, but bounced back through the 1980s at the same time planted rice acreage was expanding in the Central Valley. During the 2013\u20132014\u00a0winter, Nature Conservancy biologists counted 8,500 White-faced Ibises in the flooded rice fields of the BirdReturns project alone.<\/p>\n<p>Rice farmers and birds actually have a somewhat symbiotic relationship. As birds dabble and pick through the fields, they stir up and help decompose the prior growing season\u2019s straw, which is crucial for preparing the fields for seeding. In return, the birds get to feed on the leftover rice grains. \u201cWith somewhere around 350 to 450 pounds of rice grain per acre, there\u2019s a lot of energy in that,\u201d says rice farmer and avian ecologist Doug Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Rice farming also helps with neighboring wetlands management, even in a time of severe drought. That&#8217;s because water drained off rice fields runs into federal, state, and local wildlife refuges, providing more than half the water supply for the preserves\u00a0in the Central Valley. Pesticide levels are managed and measured; the water flowing from rice fields meets strict California water quality requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/2012\/10\/09\/making-sense-of-coffee-labels-shade-grown-organic-fair-trade-bird-friendl\/\">buying Bird-Friendly coffee<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.audubonmagazine.org\/articles\/conservation\/south-american-cowboys-cook-bird-friendly-beef\">beef<\/a>, you can vote with your food dollars for bird habitat by eating California rice. One easy way to do it\u2014eat sushi. \u201cIf you eat a sushi roll in the United States, you\u2019re most likely eating California rice,\u201d says Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>You can also swap out potatoes or bread and choose California rice as a bird-friendly starch on your plate. Buy your rice online directly <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.nextgenfoods.com\/\">from Doug Thomas\u2019s farm<\/a>, or just look for California on the label of rice in your local grocery store. Several <a href=\"http:\/\/www.calrice.org\/people\/chefs\">California chefs have gathered up their favorite recipes<\/a> for cooking with this bird-friendly starch.<\/p>\n<h3>Read more in these related articles:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/2014\/10\/31\/moneyball-for-shorebirds-how-precision-analytics-are-changing-habitat-conservation\/\">Moneyball for Shorebirds: How Precision Analytics Are Changing Habitat Conservation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/2012\/10\/09\/making-sense-of-coffee-labels-shade-grown-organic-fair-trade-bird-friendl\/\">Making Sense of Coffee Labels: Does Your Coffee Support Wintering Warblers?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to support bird habitat on your dinner plate? Consider swapping out potatoes with California rice. Rice farms in that state&#8217;s Central Valley provide critical migratory shorebird habitat, thanks in<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/help-conserve-bird-habitat-by-putting-california-rice-on-your-plate\/\" title=\"ReadHelp Conserve Bird Habitat by Putting California Rice on Your Plate\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":0,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[375,944],"topic":[998,1043,1119,1124],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[],"host-project":[],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-7921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","tag-get-involved","tag-ways-you-can-help-birds","topic-news-and-features","topic-science-conservation-news-and-features","topic-try-this","topic-ways-you-can-help-birds","content-format-article"],"metadata":{"_edit_last":["17"],"wdsi_do_not_show":[""],"_wpas_done_all":["1"],"hs_social":["1415050274000"],"associated-posts":[""],"_edit_lock":["1623798567:4"],"_thumbnail_id":["7936"],"custom-byline":["<em>By Gustave Axelson<\/em>"],"banner-video":[""],"banner-image":[""],"fallback-videobanner-image":[""],"original_guid":[""],"banner-text-style":["light"],"featured-image-display":["yes"],"_birdpress_next_article":[""],"_birdpress_prev_article":[""],"dsq_thread_id":["4029841174"],"wdsi_message_id":[""],"wpa_off":[""],"banner-style":["default"],"hide-from-search":["no"],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_image":[""],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_description":[""]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"content-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-format?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"cornell-lab-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell-lab-project?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"host-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/host-project?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"read-more-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/read-more-tag?post=7921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}