chicory in wild bird mixtures
Discussion Forum
chicory in wild bird mixtures
Matthew
13 Aug 2010, 8:46 AM
Has anyone got any useful comments regarding chicory in wild bird seed mixtures ? I was on a farm yesterday where the guy uses chicory in his game mixes and the plant seemed atttractive to bumblebees. He also said the small seed pods attract 'clouds' of linnets and reed buntings in the winter ! Has anyone else seen many birds using chicory ?
Cheers,
Matt
Re: chicory in wild bird mixtures
richardwinspear
24 Aug 2010, 4:12 PM
I have heard of bird ringers recording good bird numbers in chicory, but imagine that it will form a dense sward, so may only be useful as a seed source to species that feed on the seed heads? Did the stand you saw have easy access for species foraging on the ground?
Re: chicory in wild bird mixtures
Matthew
24 Aug 2010, 9:53 PM
Hi Richard,
Yes, it was in it's second year and had some reasonble bare areas throughout the stand. The farmer did mention that most birds he observed using the chicory were mainly the smaller finches together with Reed Bunting. Perhaps if used in conjunction with kale with a few strips mown through the blocks, that might work ?
Matt
Matt
Re: chicory in wild bird mixtures
Ian Gould
04 Sep 2010, 1:57 PM
Oakbank have been using Chicory in many different ways for several years, but we do not consider it to be a particularly good source of seed food for birds. However, it is an extremely useful structural component and a very good source of pollen and nectar. It is an essential part of our armoury for Winter Cover for Grey Partridge, often combined with Kale or other food species.
My general comment would be that many growers use too much per Hectare and they are then presented with a hedgelike wall of Chicory, rather than a well-structured diverse canopy. I would encourage growers to include a little chicory in their margins and field corners, along with other robust wild flowers such as Black Knapweed, Musk Mallow, BFT, Red Clover, etc, as these undoubtedly make these areas more useful to wildlife. We do need some help from DEFRA / Natural England in this regard as the rules allowing cutting of flower-rich margins and corners have been changed in the ELS 3rd edition. We must be allowed to cut these margins and field corners in the late summer to promote the flowers and knock back the grass.
Ian
www.oakbankgc.co.uk