Engineering Commons^™

Agelaius Blackbirds And Rice In Uruguay And The Southeastern United States, Ethel N. Rodriguez, Michael L. Avery

Proceedings of the Seventeenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1996

Throughout the world, wherever rice is grown, birds that damage the crop are attracted. The situations are particularly interesting in Uruguay and the southeastern United States where different species of blackbird have adapted to rice cultivation. In the two countries, rice production practices differ in several respects such as seeding rate, seedbed preparation, and insect control practices. Furthermore, although they are congeneric, the major rice pest species differ in important ways. For example, in Uruguay, Agelaius ruficapillus usually nests in the rice field, whereas A. phoeniceus, in the U.S., does so only rarely. Agronomic and ornithological aspects of these …