Birds Birds usually remove the whole seed from a head. Large numbers of birds will be seen at dawn and dusk. On close inspection, it should be possible to see insect pests, particularly in the seed heads. Mice Mice tend to gnaw on the seed while it is in the head, and this can be fairly obvious in mature crops. They often don't eat the whole seed, and may leave mounds of gnawed grain, husks and pods near burrows.
Mice can dig seeds out of the ground.
They can gnaw cereal stems just above the nodes, causing the plant to die off. Mice frequently attack cereal crops when the seeds are at the 'milky' stage. Mice are most active at night. Damage to cereal crops usually becomes less obvious as the crops mature. Damage to canola and lupins can continue up until harvest.