Wine Stewards September 7, 2012
Vineyard falcons protect grapes and take better care of chicks
New Zealand falcons have helped winemakers by hunting birds that damage grapes. Now a new study has shown that the arrangement also benefits the falcons: these raptors take better care of their chicks when they live in vineyards.
The expansion of vineyards in the country’s Marlborough region has driven out the New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae), which is now threatened. A program called Falcons for Grapes, started in 2005, brought the birds back to wine country. Previous research found that the falcons helped control pests such as starlings and blackbirds in vineyards, but “whether there is a simultaneous benefit to the falcon population is, as yet, unknown,” the authors write.
To find out how the falcons were faring, researchers set up video cameras near four nests in or near vineyards and near six nests in the hills. The team monitored the birds and their chicks from 2008 to 2011, gathering more than 2,800 hours of recordings.
Vineyard falcons spend more time feeding their chicks and guarding their nests, the authors report in PLoS ONE. As the chicks grew, the falcons in vineyards also provided more food than the falcons in the hills. And the vineyard-dwelling falcons did a better job of preparing the chicks’ meals: they plucked all the prey’s feathers and decapitated prey more frequently.
The falcons in vineyards had an automatic advantage because they received supplementary food. But even when the researchers didn’t count the extra food, they found that the vineyard falcons tended to feed their young bigger prey than their hill-dwelling counterparts. ❧
–Roberta Kwok
Kross, S.M., J.M. Tylianakis, and X.J. Nelson. 2012. Translocation of threatened New Zealand falcons to vineyards increases nest attendance, brooding and feeding rates. PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038679.
http://conservationmagazine.org/2012/09/wine-stewards/
Vineyard falcons protect grapes and take better care of chicks
New Zealand falcons have helped winemakers by hunting birds that damage grapes. Now a new study has shown that the arrangement also benefits the falcons: these raptors take better care of their chicks when they live in vineyards.
The expansion of vineyards in the country’s Marlborough region has driven out the New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae), which is now threatened. A program called Falcons for Grapes, started in 2005, brought the birds back to wine country. Previous research found that the falcons helped control pests such as starlings and blackbirds in vineyards, but “whether there is a simultaneous benefit to the falcon population is, as yet, unknown,” the authors write.
To find out how the falcons were faring, researchers set up video cameras near four nests in or near vineyards and near six nests in the hills. The team monitored the birds and their chicks from 2008 to 2011, gathering more than 2,800 hours of recordings.
Vineyard falcons spend more time feeding their chicks and guarding their nests, the authors report in PLoS ONE. As the chicks grew, the falcons in vineyards also provided more food than the falcons in the hills. And the vineyard-dwelling falcons did a better job of preparing the chicks’ meals: they plucked all the prey’s feathers and decapitated prey more frequently.
The falcons in vineyards had an automatic advantage because they received supplementary food. But even when the researchers didn’t count the extra food, they found that the vineyard falcons tended to feed their young bigger prey than their hill-dwelling counterparts. ❧
–Roberta Kwok
Kross, S.M., J.M. Tylianakis, and X.J. Nelson. 2012. Translocation of threatened New Zealand falcons to vineyards increases nest attendance, brooding and feeding rates. PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038679.
http://conservationmagazine.org/2012/09/wine-stewards/
Bird Predators for Controlling Pest Birds in Vineyards
by arlapierre
Vineyards and other fruit orchards are important to the southern interior region of BC; people like their wine and fresh fruit. But vineyards and orchards often have a plethora of pests, which can cause the fruit growers to lose significant amounts of dough. Some of the most annoying pests are birds, especially starlings. There are some ways to keep the birds away; some of the conventional methods include propane cannons for making loud noises, netting to catch the little buggers, and shotguns to kill the little buggers, which all help somewhat, but do not make much of an impact in bird flocks that can number in the tens of thousands. Speakers have also been used to broadcast alarm and distress calls of the pest birds, and this has been shown to be quite effective when combined with conventional methods (Berge et al. 2007). But to really save your fruit crops, probably the most effective way of keeping the birds away is the use of bird predators.
On a side note, predators, being at the top levels of the food chain, often are more vulnerable to threats such as habitat loss because they require relatively large territories to find enough to eat. Agricultural producers, however, are often not very excited to support the presence of predators for some pretty obvious reasons (they’ll eat their livestock). Also, having predators around does not always benefit farmers economically. But for vineyards, having a predator around can have a large economic benefit. Bird predators such as falcons can do a great job in keeping the birds away and can save much of a fruit grower’s crop. Read more
by arlapierre
Vineyards and other fruit orchards are important to the southern interior region of BC; people like their wine and fresh fruit. But vineyards and orchards often have a plethora of pests, which can cause the fruit growers to lose significant amounts of dough. Some of the most annoying pests are birds, especially starlings. There are some ways to keep the birds away; some of the conventional methods include propane cannons for making loud noises, netting to catch the little buggers, and shotguns to kill the little buggers, which all help somewhat, but do not make much of an impact in bird flocks that can number in the tens of thousands. Speakers have also been used to broadcast alarm and distress calls of the pest birds, and this has been shown to be quite effective when combined with conventional methods (Berge et al. 2007). But to really save your fruit crops, probably the most effective way of keeping the birds away is the use of bird predators.
On a side note, predators, being at the top levels of the food chain, often are more vulnerable to threats such as habitat loss because they require relatively large territories to find enough to eat. Agricultural producers, however, are often not very excited to support the presence of predators for some pretty obvious reasons (they’ll eat their livestock). Also, having predators around does not always benefit farmers economically. But for vineyards, having a predator around can have a large economic benefit. Bird predators such as falcons can do a great job in keeping the birds away and can save much of a fruit grower’s crop. Read more
