Due to the ongoing threads of ‘bird damage’… this is a thread to discuss the positive aspects of birds.
Some information for thought:
Integrating birds into an orchard provides a powerful, natural boost to ecosystem health and crop production, frequently offering net agricultural benefits that increase farm yields by 10 to 15 percent. While some birds occasionally peck at fruit, the overall ecological services they provide far outweigh minor crop damage
Natural Fertilization: As birds travel across the canopy and forest floor, their droppings deposit valuable nutrients directly into the soil, acting as a mild, continuous fertilizer for the trees
Decreased Fruit Loss: Predatory and insect-eating birds significantly mitigate overall fruit damage, which directly translates to higher market yields and cleaner, more profitable harvests
Reduced Input Costs: By leaning on birds for pest management, growers can drastically scale back on expensive chemical insecticides and pesticides, saving hundreds of dollars per hectare
Year-Round Maintenance: In the winter, birds like nuthatches and woodpeckers scour tree bark to eat overwintering larvae, interrupting the pest reproduction cycle before the spring bloom
Outperforming Chemicals: Research shows that beneficial birds can outperform traditional chemical pesticides, reducing harmful insect populations by up to 20 percent in apple orchards.
Targeted Hunting: Insectivorous birds like chickadees, swallows, bluebirds, and warblers feast on devastating orchard pests, including codling moth, apple maggots and borers.
There are also predatory birds like hawks, owls, kestrels.. that further hunt for things that an orchard attracts.
This is not meant to be a discussion of the pros and cons of migratory birds. That has already been settled and they are protected by law. Even though there is probably no enforcement.. it is actually bad enough for mankind that we had to put laws in place worldwide.
Final thought-
Insects are the prime source of food for most birds feeding their young. 96% of terrestrial birds feed their nestlings insects, not berries or seeds.
