REDUCING BIRD DAMAGE TO LOWBUSH BLUEBERRIES WITH A CARBAMATE REPELLENT

Ripening blueberries have commonly been subjected to depredation by a variety of birds, but because of unusually heavy losses in the past few years the need for quantitative information on damage and on methods of bird control has become more urgent.
Bird damage to highbush blueberries in the U.S.A. was estimated to be about 5 percent of the crop, representing a nationwide loss between 1.6 and 2.1 million dollars annually (Mott and Stone, 1973). Losses in fields of native lowbush blueberry are difficult to determine because of the high degree of variability in the crop, but the location of most fields near mixed or coniferous forest makes them highly vulnerable to songbirds.
In New Brunswick, Canada, several growers have reported losses of 25 to 50 percent of the crop, and some fields have been abandoned because of repeated bird damage.

A variety of scaring techniques, from the use of simple devices to sophisticated electronic systems, have been tried alone and in combination with limited success.
Netting of small plantings might be useful but would be impracticable for large fields.
Shooting of songbirds is not only objectionable to a large segment of the general public but its effectiveness is also questionable.
The goal of any bird control programme must be to protect the crop from excessive losses without killing offending birds.
Recent experiments with nonlethal chemical repellents have offered some promise in attempts to attain that goal.

Symposium on Vaccinium Culture in Europe

G.W. Wood, P.A. Pearce

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1977.61.24