Limiting Bird Damage in Fruit Crops: State of the Art Pest Management Tactics Workshop

Abstract

A workshop was held to teach attendees about state-of-the-art bird management practices to protect fruit crops. Presentations on the bird species most responsible for damage in fruit plantings, the economic consequences, consumer perceptions of management tactics used (e.g. fatal shooting vs. use of kestrel boxes), results of a NY grower survey on bird management practices being used and their efficacy, tactics for deer management in fruit, regulations and permitting for wildlife management, factors in a planting that can place fruit at risk, pest mitigation strategies, and research results on using air dancers to prevent bird predation of fruit were followed by field demonstrations on bird netting, bird scare devices and falconery. Growers, educators and wildlife managers came away with comprehensive knowledge about successful bird management strategies in susceptible fruit crops, including sweet and tart cherry, blueberry, ‘Honeycrisp’ apples and wine grapes that have been researched in the USDA SCRI project, Limiting Bird Damage in Fruit Crops.