Bird Conservation on Golf Courses: A Design and Management Manual

 

With the golf industry’s push to improve its environmental management practices, golf courses are continually looking at ways and methods of enhancing their operations in order to benefit their immediate environment.

Golf courses are increasingly becoming green oases as urban sprawl continues unabated and their role as natural habitats for a wide range of fauna and flora is becoming increasingly prominent within the industry and community in general.

Golf courses are havens for local wildlife, in particular bird life, and many clubs around Australia have for a long time been proactive in conserving and enhancing bird activity. Whether it’s the placement of nesting boxes, removing exotic species and planting native flora to attract certain birds, or being involved with local community bird groups, Australian superintendents are well accustomed to bird conservation.

If, however, your course is looking at enhancing and conserving bird life, then this book could be a good starting point. Written by US zoologist Scott Gillihan, who works for the Colorado Bird Observatory, ‘Bird Conservation on Golf Courses: A Design and Management Manual’ is designed to act as a hands-on manual for designing and managing golf courses to benefit birdlife.

Gillihan says the manual is specifically written for golf course architects and superintendents and its contents are directed towards the habitat needs to a wide variety of birds. While the geographic and taxonomic scope of the book focuses primarily on the US, the basic principles outlined can be applied anywhere that birds and golf courses exist.

The book kicks off by asking why golf courses should conserve bird life before moving onto basic bird biology including general habitat requirements. Gillihan then moves into more specific methods of conservation, informing architects how to incorporate bird habitat into golf course design and superintendents how they can conserve and enhance bird communities on their course. Gillihan also looks at the issue of course maintenance in relation to bird communities, problems birds on golf courses and management information for species in particular need of conservation efforts. 

Review by Brett Robinson