Grassland birds have experienced protracted population declines, primarily due to loss and degradation of native grasslands. Restoration of native grasses may benefit grassland birds, but such restoration within the eastern United States has been limited. Production uses of native grasses (e.g., hay, pasture, biofuel feedstock) provide market-based incentives that could lead to more extensive use of these grasses than existing conservation-focused practices, potentially influencing breeding birds. Therefore, we compared breeding bird (n = 9 target species) relative abundance among 4 types of native warm-season grass (NWSG) agricultural production fields: forage (hay and pasture; n = 22 and 7, respectively), seed (n = 21), biofuel (n = 15), and a control (idle fields in conservation programs or practices; n = 37) in Kentucky and Tennessee, 2009–2010. We detected 2 145 birds, with field sparrow (Spizella pusilla, 43%) and red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus, 27%) encountered most often. Relative abundance did not differ between production types and controls except for field sparrow (lower on seed production fields) and northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus, lower on hay production fields). Species richness equaled or exceeded that of control fields for all production categories. We documented negative relationships between relative abundance and landscape-scale forest cover for four species (field sparrow, grasshopper sparrow [Ammodramus savannarum], eastern meadowlark [Sturnella magna], and red-winged blackbird) and positive relationships with amount of pasture and hay cover for four species (northern bobwhite, grasshopper sparrow, eastern meadowlark, and red-winged blackbird), reinforcing the importance of nonforested environments for these species. We conclude that production stands could be a viable approach for increasing NWSG available for breeding birds and, when established in the appropriate landscape context, can provide benefits similar to those provided by conservation programs.

草原鸟类经历了长期的种群减少，这主要是由于原生草原的丧失和退化。恢复天然草可能会使草原鸟类受益，但在美国东部进行的此类恢复受到限制。天然草的生产用途（例如干草，牧场，生物燃料原料）提供了基于市场的激励措施，与现有的注重保护的做法相比，这些草可以更广泛地使用，从而可能影响种禽。因此，我们比较 了四种类型的天然暖季草（NWSG）农业生产领域中的繁殖鸟（n = 9种目标物种）的相对丰度：草料（干草和牧场；n  = 22和7），种子（n  = 21），生物燃料（n = 15），并 在2009-2010年在肯塔基州和田纳西州进行了控制（保护计划或实践中的闲置田地；n = 37）。我们发现了2 145头鸟类，其中最常遇到的是野麻雀（Spzella pusilla， 43％）和红翅黑鸟（Agelaius phoeniceus， 27％）。除田间麻雀（种子生产田地较低）和北部短毛白鼬（维尔纽斯州（Colinus virginianus），干草生产田地较低）以外，生产类型和对照之间的相对丰度没有差异。所有生产类别的物种丰富度均等于或超过控制领域。我们记录了四种物种（野麻雀，蚱sp麻雀[稀树大草原（Ammodramus savannarum），东草地lar（Sturnella magna）和红翅黑鸟以及与四种牧草（北短毛白腹,、蚱hopper麻雀，东草地k和红翅黑鸟）的牧场和干草覆盖量呈正相关，这增强了重要性这些物种的非森林环境。我们得出结论，生产林分可能是增加可用于繁殖鸟类的NWSG的可行方法，并且在适当的景观环境中建立时，可以提供类似于保护计划所提供的收益。