An Estimation of Bird Damages on Some Field, Vegetable and Fruit Crops at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

The crop losses due to birds are serious and costly problem for farmers. The hooded crow (Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus niloticus Nicoll and Bonhote, 1909) are major pests for many crops in Egypt. In current work bird damage was assessed on maize, snake cucumber at El-Ibrahemia district, while that on pea and guava was determined at Zagazig district, Sharkia Goverenorate during the growing season 2016. Regarding maize, the hooded crow feed on developing ears in corn fields following pollination and early in the grain filling period. The total number of inspected plants was 2800 and the highest losses (9.81%) were recorded in the 7 th week. While, the hooded crow attacks snake cucumber fruits causing damage with mean percentage 6.33%. But the pea is preferable vegetable crop to birds, which destroy the leaves, flower buds as well green seeds in pods and this damage may be reduced the yield. The average percentage of damage for pea was 4.41%. The highest percentage of damage was 7.50% which obtained during the 5 th week. Guava fruits were vulnerable to house sparrow, birds gnaw fruits. The losses by birds were estimated to be 4.79 and 4.64% in orchards nearby poultry farms and those nearby field crops, respectively.

A comparative Study on Some Maize Cultivars and Their Relationship to Damage Caused by Hooded Crow, Corvus corone sardonius at Qena Governorate, EGYPT

“…The hooded crow, C. corone sardonius is one of the most important bird residents in Egypt. It is one of the most important agricultural pests in the cultivated areas, such as maize, peanuts, sunflower, (Metwally et al, 1995;Khattab et al, 2002;Bonnah, 2007 andIssa andEl-Bakhshawngi, 2018). C. corone sardonius, also, has a wide variety of food including maggots and beetles, small mammals, frogs, young or wounded birds, some Mollusca, and other invertebrates.…”