Blue-winged Teal

Beaver dams create shallow wetlands that promote the growth of young trees, shrubs and other vegetation that creates habitat for migratory birds, and the wetlands promote insect and small fish reproduction that helps to feed many birds, including warblers, ducks, kingfishers and wading birds. Researchers at the University of Montana’s Bird Ecology Lab studied stretches of small streams without beaver dams and those that did have dams, and found that bird species diversity and abundance increased dramatically where beavers have been active.

“In the areas without beavers, the riparian corridor was really just one willow plant wide. But the active beaver stretches were full of ponds ringed by wetland plants and shrubs,” said Ana Noson, avian ecologist with the Bird Ecology Lab. The bird abundance and diversity increased exponentially in streams with old or active beaver sites. Noson found eight species typically associated with wetland and riparian habitats, such as Belted Kingfishers, Yellow Warblers and Blue-winged Teal, along with several at-risk species like Sandhill Cranes.

Why are birds flocking to beaver ponds? “Where there’s slow water, there’s more food,” says Noson. Beaver ponds generate a much higher density of biodiversity than fast-moving water. Ponded areas allow more plants to grow and more insects to breed in the water and in the surrounding soil. In turn, these plants and bugs attract hungry birds.

See http://blog.nwf.org/2018/04/more-beavers-equals-more-birds/