Strategies for Evading Blackbird Damage

Linz, George M.; Klug, Page E.

doi:10.4324/9781315156439-10

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In 2009 and 2010, Klosterman et al (2013) estimated that blackbirds annually damaged $1.3 million USD and $3.5 million USD of ripening corn and sunflower in North Dakota, respectively. Managing the areal coverage of Typha to reduce the availability of blackbird habitat is one method of dispersing large blackbird concentrations to many smaller roosts (Linz et al 1995;, thereby reducing the severity of localized damage (Leitch et al 1997) while improving wetland habitat (Linz 1992;Solberg and Higgins 1993;Linz and Klug 2017).…”

Section: Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

et al. 2019

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Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits such as robust size, rapid growth rate, and rhizomatic expansion. Increased nutrient inputs into wetlands and altered hydrologic regimes are among the principal anthropogenic drivers of Typha invasion. Typha is associated with a wide range of negative ecological impacts to wetland and agricultural systems, but also is linked with a variety of ecosystem services such as bioremediation and provisioning of biomass, as well as an assortment of traditional cultural uses. Numerous physical, chemical, and hydrologic control methods are used to manage invasive Typha, but results are inconsistent and multiple methods and repeated treatments often are required. While this review focuses on invasive Typha in North America, the literature cited comes from research on Typha and other invasive species from around the world. As such, many of the underlying concepts in this review are relevant to invasive species in other wetland ecosystems worldwide.

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Section: Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

et al. 2019

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“…Why this occurs relates to wild flock behaviors. Growers in field studies note that a common response to the presence of a laser in a field is that entire flocks will simply not settle in the field after a laser is detected, and instead move—sometimes large distances—to untreated fields 1,5,21,43 . Therefore, it is important to understand not only the differences in the bird–corn interactions between the Stick and Natural Trials that we conducted, but also how the foraging behaviors of the birds in our small‐scale pen study may differ from those of free‐flying bird flocks with access to large, sweet corn fields.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bird species causing the highest crop damage each year in the United States include red‐winged blackbirds ( Agelaius phoeniceus ), brown‐headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater ), Canada geese ( Branta canadensis ), snow geese ( Chen caerulescens ), sandhill cranes ( Grus canadensis ) and European starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ) 1,2 . Grain crops are especially attractive to such species as they ripen during nonbreeding and migratory seasons when many bird species aggregate and range widely to forage 1–3 . A variety of deterrents are available to prevent avian pests from damaging grain crops; these can be described as either lethal or nonlethal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental assessment of laser scarecrows for reducing avian damage to sweet corn

Manz,

Sieving,

Brown

et al. 2023

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUNDBirds damage crops, costing millions of dollars annually, and growers utilize a variety of lethal and nonlethal deterrents in an attempt to reduce crop damage by birds. We experimentally tested laser scarecrows for their effectiveness at reducing sweet corn (Zea mays) damage. We presented 18 captive flocks of free‐flying European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with fresh sweet corn ears distributed on two plots where laser and control treatments were alternated each day and allowed each flock to forage over five days. In 16 trials, fresh sweet corn ears were mounted on wooden sticks distributed from 0‐32m from laser units (Stick Trials), and in two trials birds foraged on ripe corn grown from seed in the flight pen (Natural Trials). We aimed to determine if laser‐treated plots had significantly less damage overall and closer to the laser unit, and whether birds became more or less likely to forage in laser‐treated plots over time.RESULTSLasers reduced damage overall, marginally in Stick Trials and dramatically in Natural Trials. Damage increased during each week in both trial types. Damage increased significantly with distance from lasers, and significant treatment effects occurred up until ~20 m from lasers.CONCLUSIONOur results concur with recent field trials demonstrating strong reductions in sweet corn damage when lasers are deployed. This study provides a first look at how birds respond to repeated laser exposure and whether damage increases with distance from lasers. Key differences between pen and field trials are discussed.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Oil-con hybrids as a potential tool to prevent eared dove damage to sunflower crops

Zuil

Canavelli

Orduna

2022

Helia

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Eared doves (Zenaida auriculata) cause significant economic damage to mature sunflower in Argentina. Empirical evidences indicate that some sunflower hybrids (e.g. confectionary and stripped oilseed) might be less susceptible to bird damage than others (e.g. black oilseed). However, these less susceptible hybrids could imply a trade-off between damage reduction and oil content on the seeds. In this work, we investigated the potential of a new oil-con hybrid types (OC: oilseed × confectionary cross) as a tool to prevent eared dove damage to sunflower crops. We compared the performance (damage values), morphological characteristics and nutritive quality of this hybrid compared to other three standard sunflower hybrids (BO: black oilseed, SO: striped oilseed, and CON: confectionary), both in the field and in cages. In both tests, doves significantly selected BO and SO hybrids over CON and OC hybrids. The OC hybrid was not selected, despite its high nutritional value. Results suggest that achene size could be an important morphological trait influenced eared dove selection of hybrids, independently of other seed characteristics. Based on these results, the OC hybrid tested in this study seems to be a promising tool for preventing eared dove damage to sunflower in Argentina.

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Strategies for Evading Blackbird Damage

Cited by 3 publications

References 28 publications

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

Experimental assessment of laser scarecrows for reducing avian damage to sweet corn

Oil-con hybrids as a potential tool to prevent eared dove damage to sunflower crops

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