The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1913-03-21
PROTECT OUR BIRD FRIENDS


chards this spring and the same is
true of other species. 1t is now the
duty of all farmers and fruit grow
ers to see that they are protected
from the guns of the would. be hunter
and the nest-raiding small boy.
Insectivorous birds are among
our best friends. 1t is estimated
that every woodpecker in the United
States is worth $40 in cash if we
base his value on the good he does
to our trees. The chickadee and
other like birds are worth from SIS
to $40 apiece according to locality
and the sorts and conditions of the
crops.
The loss by insect pests annually
in the United States mounts up into
hundreds of millions of dollars and
much of this might be saved were
the insectivorous birds protected
and fostered.
One reason why these semi-arid
regions suffer so much more than
the other regions is because bird
life is naturally scarce, but if al
lowed to increase, as they will as
the country is settled and the area
of cultivated land increases, they
will take care of a good proportion
of the insect life that costs us so
much money to fight.
The codd]ing moth and curculio
are among the most destructive of
the pests which infest orchards and
are difficult to destroy by the ordi-
nary means of spraying resorted to
by the fruit grower.
These two insects cause a shrink
age in the value of our fruit amount
ing to So, 100000, and the cost of
spraying, ETC., amounts to over $S,-
100000 more or total of over $780,
100000.
The downy woodpecker is the re-
lentless enemy of the coddling moth,
and if left alone will dig into the
hiding places of the larvae and ex-
tract them with little or no damage
to the fruit. AS many as twenty
larvae of the coddling moth have
been taken from the stomach of
single woodpecker.
Observers in California have noted
hundreds of the red shafted flicker
examining the trunks and limbs of
trees and even entering the sheds
where fruit was stored in their search
for the larvae of these pests.
Woodpeckers, fickers, chickadees,
jays, robins orioles, bluebirds, fly
catchers, blackbirds, 'buntings and
an array of other birds are the firm
friends of the farmer and their good
work should be recognized, by CIV
them protection always.
When we remember these various
species of birds in some places des-
troy from 70 to IS per cent of the
alternating larvae of the coddling
moth alone, and that they are the
relentless enemies of numerous other
pests, we cannot fail to do all we
can to afford protection to all migra-
tory birds. Many migratory birds
which we do not think of at all as
game birds are so considered in other
sections and especially by foreigners
from southern Europe and the ne
groes of the south. Hence necessity
of national legislation to protect
them. State laws are not sufficient
for there is not and cannot be suffi-
cient uniformity. In the south many
birds are considered game birds
only and are slaughtered unmerci-
fully under present conditions. Only
the strong arm of the nation can
stop it.
Then we must urge our congress
men to perfect legislation to that
end, delegating to the Department
of Agriculture the power to regulate
the time and conditions under which
migratory birds may be ed .
Fur her, public opinion must be
created and fostered that will con-
denim the slaughter of the birds and
protect their nests and young. The
| .I,,lt a., onn,o cnooi1.c NOV do