Bird Damage to Ripening Field Corn Increases in the United States from 1971 to 1981

Abstract : In 1981, bird damage to ripening field corn in the major corn-producing States in the United States was surveyed. The percentage of fields damaged by birds and the bushels of corn lost had increased in 10 States since 1971. Blackbird populations causing the damage had not increased at a similar rate, probably because of greater use of herbicides and increases in corn acreage along with a reduction in other feeding habitats such as haylands and small-grain stubbles. p9