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National Survey Of Blackbird-Starling Roosts, John S. Webb, Willis C. Royall Jr.

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

The 1969-70 nationwide winter inventory of blackbird-starling roosts and populations was conducted during the period December 20-January 31 by the Division of Wildlife Research, U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center coordinated the survey for the East (31 States), and the Denver Wildlife Research Center for the West (17 States). Success depended on extensive cooperation from many sources: Bureau agencies, especially the Division of Wildlife Services; other Federal and State conservation and agricultural departments; the Audubon Society; ornithological clubs; and individual bird students.

In all, 674 roosts were reported-—262 in the East and 412 in …

Trapping Feral Pigeons, J. O. Bull

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

When I look at the multitude of pests and diseases you have here in the United States, it is a miracle to me that you are still alive today. The United King¬dom is fortunate in having very few bird pests in urban areas. We have the English Sparrow, the starling, and the feral pigeon. We are also a nation of bird lovers, with a large number of organizations that look after the welfare of wild birds. So, we in pest control have to be very careful in our control procedures.

Now let me move along to our feral pigeon trapping …

Bird Control In Cultivated Blueberries, John W. Nelson

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In 1969 and 1970, with cooperation with Mr. Bill Shake of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, attempts were made to assay the actual dollar damage done to a blueberry planting and what affect the carbide gun, BioSonics taped scare call and Av-Alarm electric sound device had on control of bird damage. Both the BioSonic and Av-Alarm units were battery operated and photo cell controlled to turn on and off automatically. These features are of great importance to the blueberry grower who is faced with a shortage of labor and increasing labor cost. It was necessary to select fields several …

A Municipal Bird Control Project, James Steckel

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

The subject I was asked to talk about this morning is Municipal Bird Control. Our organization was asked approximately a year ago by a rather high level income urban municipality lying adjacent to Columbus, Ohio, a bedroom community so to speak, to come into their area to do a commercial bird control project. The problem species was pigeons. The community was having a blight. Real estate sales in the town had dropped off as a result of the pigeon problem. The taxpayers were getting together and had been harassing the council for about six months to do something about the …

Bird Depredation On Rice And Other Grains In Arkansas, Robert A. Pierce

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In Arkansas, blackbirds are responsible for appreciable damage to rice, grain sorghum, oats, wheat, rye, and corn. By far, the greatest damage is to rice. As is shown in the following table, the losses to rice producers amounted to an estimated $3,049,055 in 1968, the last year that a survey was made. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of this loss was to standing rice destroyed and to the cost of bird control measure in standing rice. The remaining losses ($2,140,320 ) are to seeding or to efforts to control bird depredations to new seeding, (see Table 1).

Blackbird damage to grain sorghum …

Sonic Systems For Controlling Bird Depredations, William D. Fitzwater

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

The sounds used in controlling bird depredations can be classified into three types:

(1) AUDIBLE DISTURBING NOISES: From clapping of hands by primitive peoples to the modern exploding shotgun shells, loud noises have long been used to frighten birds from man's crops. They are still a valuable supplement to other methods or when needed for short, discontinuous periods.

(2) ULTRASONICS: Sounds over 20,000 cps are apparently beyond the limit of birds as well as humans. There is no effective use of ultrasonics in bird control as yet.

(3) BIOSONICS: While song is a more noticeable facet of bird communication, the …

The Avitrol Program In Ohio, Richard N. Smith

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In 1970 a larger program was mounted. At the time it was started we did not know what the registration situation was going to be, but organization began in April. In late June we found out that the material would be available. We expanded the program under the assumption that one man could adequately supervise 6,000 acres of corn. More realistically we found that one man could supervise about 3,000 acres. Plans were initiated in March, when time schedules were set up, County Agents had meetings with farmers to explain the program, and we left it with the farmers to …

Laboratory And Field Studies With An Avian Repellent For Sprouting Seeds, F. R. Frank, Edward W. Schafer Jr., Joseph L. Guarino

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Development of safe bird management techniques has become necessary for the economic survival of many parameters of agriculture. Competition between man and birds for resources has always occurred but has become increasingly complex as the human population increased. As man's demand for additional food and fiber has required more intensive cultivation of arable land, certain birds have caused in¬creasingly costly losses. Bird damage has become so severe in some areas that till¬age of certain crops is threatened.

In some situations, troublesome bird populations can be reduced to tolerable levels; however, the primary objective of bird management should be the alleviation …

Food Choice Behaviour, R. G. B. Brown

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Since 1965 the Canadian Wildlife Service has been concerned with the damage which birds cause in the orchards and vineyards of the Niagara fruit belt, in southern Ontario. My own contribution to this programme has been to collect information on the feeding be¬haviour and ecology of the birds concerned, and use this to test the effectiveness of various control systems. For the purposes of this seminar, I shall only deal with the damage which Robins do to sweet cherries. Here, I was particularly interested in whether it was possible to develop a "bird-proof cherry variety, which would settle the problem …

Outlook For Ornitrol, M. R. Woulfe

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

My comments at this point will concern the application and uses of Ornitrol. My comments are aimed at people who are engaged in actual control work, people in public health departments and PCO's.

Ornitrol is a chemosterilant--one of the first ones which has been registered for sale. It inhibits egg production apparently in most avians. We know it does this in pigeons, sparrows, grackles, blackbirds, and chickens. It is reasonable to assume that it will do this in many other species, and this generalized action is one of the reasons why it has got to be handled very carefully where …

Experimental Control Techniques Using Avicide 3, Chloro-P-Toluidine, Glenn R. Dudderar, John W. Nelson

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Bird depredations in Virginia have been estimated by the Extension Service, State Department of Agriculture, and the Division of Wildlife Services to be approxi¬mately $5,000,000 annually. As part of a continuing program to reduce this damage, these agencies have tested certain experimental techniques using the avicide, 3, chloro-p-toluidine, chosen for its relative selectivity, low secondary hazard, and slow action. The situations in which the avicide was tested were feedlots, decoy crops, roost reduction, and pigeon control.

The Use Of Detergent Spraying In Bird Control, Richard N. Smith

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Four years ago we started out with the premise that we could cause morta¬lity in blackbirds with detergents. The first system used was a stand pipe where wetting agents mixed with water were pumped to aerial sprayers. Birds were then driven through the spray curtain. During two years of operation with three or four tests few successes were encountered, for it was difficult to get birds to go through a curtain of spray in any numbers. At the same time people in the research division were using large airplanes in making applications and they were having some success using airplanes …

The Dickcissel: A Problem In Ripening Grains In Latin America, Jerome F. Besser, John W. De Grazio, Kenneth H. Larsen

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Bird damage to crops in Latin America--from Mexico to Venezuela and Colom¬bia-is chiefly caused by fringillids, icterids, and psittids (De Grazio and Besser, 1970). Damage to grains such as rice and grain sorghum by various fringillids-sometimes re¬ferred to as "chisguas" by local landowners-is especially troublesome. The fringillid most often implicated in major problems is the dickcissel (Spiza americana).

Dickcissels are not known to cause serious damage problems within their breed¬ing range, which is chiefly the prairies and hay meadows of the central United States. In August, small postbreeding flocks congregate, and by September and October these coalesce into much larger …

The Chemical Senses Of Birds, Morley R. Kare

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Birds are not concerned with the odors of their immediate environment. To a chicken, a starling or a cowbird, the odors of its environment are of little or no con-sequence. I am not saying that birds do not have the apparatus for olfaction, nor am I saying that no bird can smell. The kiwi of New Zealand is almost totally blind and does sniff. They do have "nostrils" on the tip of the bill. However, they are an unusual exception. If we place highly odoriferous material under one of two food choices and present them to domestic chickens or starlings, …

Problems In Developing New Chemicals For Bird Control, Edward W. Schafer Jr., Joseph L. Guarino

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In the last decade, we have all seen the increasing concern about environmental pollution and have become aware of the long-term hazards of chemicals to man and other animals. Recently this concern and awareness have intensified and have resulted in much more stringent regulations governing the application of chemicals for bird control as well as for other purposes. Although most regulations have come from the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife have also scrutinized and tightened their policies, and as information concerning chemical effects on …

Industry Consideration And Approach, John R. Beck

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Many people are quite concerned and interested in the development of new avicides and in the continuation of existing ones. I think there are certain directions that the public at large expects industry and government to go in regards to control operations, pollution, and so forth. One of the things I think we need to concern our¬selves with is the fact that several biologically-oriented control mechanisms in control programs have been overlooked, sometimes intentionally. In the future, reg¬istration and regulatory groups are going to show more interest and a more amenable attitude toward biologically-oriented control programs, mechanism, and materials. Certainly …

State Registration And Licensing Regulations: A New Program (Ohio), James Steckel

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

We enacted a bill in Ohio this year, Senate Bill 445, that has to do with the application of pesticides. It is a very wide bill as you would normally look at it with most of the meat going to come from the regulations that are presently being written into it. In other words, the framework was developed and accepted by the two houses in our state legislature and empowered the Director of Agriculture to establish the regulations or the so-called teeth to this bill. The governor signed the bill in June and it became effective in September. The committees …

Use Of Aircraft For Bird Control, Vernon A. Vick

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Things have changed considerably during the past several years in the aerial applicating business as in most other industries. For a long time farmers have been searching for a way to control blackbirds in their corn fields. As long as fifteen years ago a group of farmers in Sandusky County asked us to apply lime to their fields in the hope that this would frighten birds from their fields. In Belle Glade, Florida, several farmers pooled their resources and hired a small cub-type airplane to fly all day long over their sweet corn fields to frighten away black birds. This …

The Role Of Bird Management In Fire Protection, David E. Schneider, Michael W. Fall

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Two years ago, Mike Fall and I showed you some ideas we had regarding mod¬ern architecture and bird problems. This year we've switched to considering bird hazards in older frame dwellings and on buildings where a fire hazard may be ap¬parent. During a class project some time ago, I was examining a nest of house sparrows and discovered that these birds incorporated cellulose cigarette filters into their nests. Filters were stripped of their paper wrapping and were apparently used by the sparrows as a substitute for or a supplement to fluffy air-born seeds and seed mat¬erials. The incidence of the …

Bird Damage To Sunflowers, Dalton E. Gandy

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Most of you are wondering why the National Cottonseed Products Association, which is the trade organization that I am a staff agronomist for, and have been for twenty-five years, is looking at sunflowers. I hasten to remind you that we are in a changing time and that we must adjust to those changing times. We were a one crop system in the South raising cotton only. It was our trade association that began to look for new oil seed crops as another crop to process and another crop for our farmers to grow. We brought soybeans to the South. We …

Fifth Bird Control Seminar Proceedings: Contents, William B. Jackson

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio
September 15-17, 1970 Sponsored by the Department of Biology Bowling Green State University
with the assistance of Division of Wildlife Services United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Pest Control Association Elizabeth, New Jersey
Dr. William B. Jackson, Conference Chairman
David L. Rintamaa, Conference Assistant
David L. Rintamaa and William B. Jackson, Editors

Another Perspective On Bird Management, John M. Anderson

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

At an earlier research seminar, Dr. John Seubert observed that available evi¬dence indicated the red-winged blackbird was going to be with us for some time, and perhaps we'd better learn to "live with it." Whereupon a representative of the com growers said if Dr. Seubert really believed that, he'd better look for a new job. I sincerely hope this attitude is not too widespread among corn producers and market¬ers; because if it is, we can expect a lot of pressure designed to force scientists to abandon their search for a safe method of reducing redwing damage. "Risk now, find out …

Registration Patterns For Avicides, James O. Lee

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Federal legislation relating to pesticide use in the United States dates back to 1910 with passage of the Federal Insecticide Act. This consumer protection from sub¬standard or fraudulent products was considered sufficient for the next 37 years.

In 1947, Congress passed the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The FIFRA superseded the earlier legislation and was designed as a regulatory measure. Under the Act any product considered an "economic poison" must be reg¬istered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture before it may be marketed in inter¬state commerce.

The FIFRA defines an economic poison as any substance or mixture of sub¬stances …

Bird Management At Airports, Edward R. Ladd

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In New England, and along the stretch of coastline which starts just south of Canada and goes down through New Jersey, we have half a dozen major or what we call international airports. All but two have bird problems. Most of these airports were built on submarginal land, but what was perhaps some of the best wildlife habitat in the country. So, the birds were there first. When these airports were built, airlines were flying propeller-type aircraft. This type was slow and sluggish compared to the jet aircraft of today. Even though aircraft speeds have increased, the birds still are …

Bird Hazards To Aircraft, Victor E. F. Solmon

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

When I spoke to the third Bird Control Seminar in 1966 on "Ecological Control of Bird Hazards to Aircraft", I reviewed what we had accomplished up to that time. I spoke about the extent of the problem, the bird species involved and the methods we used to make the airports less attractive to birds that created hazards to aircraft.

I wish to discuss today our accomplishments since 1966. I have presented a number of papers on the topic including one with Dr. W. W. H. Gunn, in 1967 at a meeting in the United Kingdom, and others in the United …

Selling Bird Control, Jerry Keown

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

The remarks that I have prepared deal with direct contacts selling pest and bird control programs. I am going to limit my remarks to what I feel are the more important aspects of selling Bird Control. I think it is safe to say that one of the most difficult aspects of selling for most sales personnel is prospecting, that is, finding accounts to call on. Our sales personnel have to more or less come up with their own leads. They have to find out who to contact once they get there. I have found that the best prospect most of …

Registered Participants: Fifth Bird Control Seminar (1970)

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Names and addresses of 97 participants.

Ornamental Horticultural Employment Opportunities In Omaha, Nebraska, Robert P. Kirwin Jr.

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the ornamental horticultural employment opportunities in the metropolitan area of Omaha, Nebraska. The problem was defined in terms of the following objectives : (1) to identify employment opportunities by clusters of job titles or occupational areas; (2) to determine trends of occupational opportunities existing in the field of ornamental horticulture; and (3) to identify selected characteristics of employees in ornamental horticulture businesses: (a) level of education desired for future employees, and (b) ages of employees. Methods. The region of study, or universe, was designated as Omaha, Nebraska. For purposes of this …

Water Resources News, Volume 2, No. 8, September 1970

Water Current Newsletter

Waste Water Reuse
Action on Mercury Pollution
Improving Waste Treatment
Westside Water Resources Study
Pollution Guide for Scout Leaders
Water Pollution Control Need $33-37 Billion
Cleaning Nation's Waterways
Under Water Power Plants
Wanted - Catalog of Products Which Are Potential Waters Polluters
FWQA Wastewater Technology Study
Proposal Deadlines
University of Illinois Annual Water Quality Conference
Research Review
New Publications Received by the Institute

Agricultural Experiment Station News September 1970

Agricultural Research Division: News and Annual Reports

CONTENTS:
FROM THE DIRECTORS OFFICE
EXPERIMENT STATION WORKERS' CONFERENCE
PERSONNEL ACTIONS
GRANTS AND CONTRACTS
GENERAL NOTES
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION PUBLICATIONS – September 1970