Along with developing a search image, birds can change their foraging locations and foraging behavior in response to an insect outbreak. When a vast quantity of insects is found in the canopy of trees, many ground or shrub-dwelling birds may ascend into the canopy to feed. Similarly, during a hatch of flying insects, birds that generally feed by plucking caterpillars off leaves may instead fly after the insects and capture them in mid-air. Some foraging strategies of birds can alter an insect species' preferred habitat to such an extent that it kills many of those insects. For instance, by flaking bark off tree trunks, woodpeckers will expose bark beetles to temperature extremes, loss of moisture, parasites, and predators, all of which result in increased deaths.
Birds can affect the evolution of insects by increasing the cost of avoidance strategies to insects.
Increased numbers of birds in patches of forest with high insect pest density during a non-outbreak year may result in the elimination of those insects, and can alter the location and spread of a subsequent outbreak. Orchards near woodlots tend to have a higher number of birds which result in a higher predation rate of agricultural insect-pests. There is much that we can do to promote the effectiveness of birds as predators of harmful insect, thereby helping ourselves financially and environmentally. For example, we can encourage birds to take up residence in an area. Purple Martins have long been known as one of the most affective mosquito repellents.