Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/622402
38 JANUARY 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com C herry growers sometimes feel like they're growing fruit mainly for the birds, but there is new information that can help them make informed decisions about bird manage- ment, said Catherine Lindell at the Michigan State University Integrative Biology Department and Center for Global Change and Earth Observations. She presented the results of a variety of studies at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO, held in December in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The location of an orchard can make a big difference in the amount of bird damage sustained, she said. She and her research group considered cherry blocks that were surrounded by additional cherry orchards, by some other land cover, such as a forest or pasture, or by a mix of cherry orchards and other land covers. They analyzed bird damage over three years — 2012, 2013 and 2014 — and found that blocks that were isolated and did not have edges abutting other sweet cherries tended to have higher damage in all those years. The fi ndings suggest that because there is less alter- native fruit in that immediate area, the birds key in on cherries, which leads to a higher-percent damage, she said. Growers with early-ripening varieties would experi- ence the same thing because, similarly, the birds would have fewer alternative food sources, she added. She also noted that orchard sites that have more resources for birds experience greater damage. For instance, she said, farms that supply cover from preda- tors will support larger cherry-eating bird populations, as will farms with streamside vegetation suitable for roosting. Another possible resource is the presence of overhead wires for perching birds. "Although we haven't found a real clear pattern with wires in sweet cherries, we did fi nd higher levels of bird damage in Honeycrisp apple blocks that were below wires compared to blocks that were without wires." In addition, Lindell and her research group looked into different bird-management options. One was the hanging of dead birds or effi gies to deter cherry-eating birds. Preliminary data show that the effi gies appear to attract birds rather than repel them, she said. "We did not combine this with something like fi ring off a shotgun to (help the birds) associate these effi gies with something bad, so there's still a possibility that by combining effi - gies with some other deterrent, their effectiveness might be improved." They also looked into the addition of nest boxes to attract benefi cial birds, particularly American kestrels (small falcons sometimes called sparrow hawks), which prey on nuisance birds and other animals such as SAVING CHERRIES from the birds New information provides help with bird management. by Leslie Mertz tJ MuLLinax/Good Fruit Grower Unfortunately for growers, cherries are often a favorite snack for birds. Researchers are using new fi ndings to help limit damage.