The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-08-03
GOODWORK OF The BIRDS
AS INSECT OESTROYERS
MANY BELIEVED NUisANcEs
FOUND TO BE OF GREAT
VALUE.

NtuuleS OF plfuS as insect destroy
ers and vermin and parasite pests. ex
! tending through "A century of observ
ance, show that many so-called bird
: are themselves effective aids to tn,
. farmer and others not general,
; thought to be insect destroyers ar,
active in that work. W. L. McAtee o
the biological survey of the depart.
ment of agriculture says in review
in the annual report Of the Smithson.
ian Institute just published.
Outstanding among these are CITED
the English sparrow. often systemat
ically destroyed as a pest. which new
iertheless not only feeds upon the
seventeen-ye locust asparagus bee
tie, locust leaf miner but upon cater
pillar, canker worm, army worm. and
drop worm; and the bob white quail
usually a seed eater, which also feeds
upon the locust and the olive scale
THE general utility of birds in
checking the increase Of injurious
animals and plants is well under
stood" he continues 1T must be ad
mitted. however. that while birds
constantly exert repressive influ-
ence on the number of the organisms
they prey upon. and even exterminate
certain pests locally they are not
numerous enough to cope successfully
with widespread invasions"
Eradicate Insect Plaques.
Nevertheless. Mr.. McAtee cites nu-
merous authentic instances where the
bird flOcks have destroyed insect pla-
CUES and their eggs and larvae so
completely that such species have
never returned to the localities where
formerly they had wrought great crop
damage or were present in such de-
pleted numbers as to be almost negli-
gible. In most of the cases he cites,
efforts of farmers or gardeners to
eradicate the pests had proven fruit
for lost.
One reason for this near extermin-
alton at times, he says, is that birds
are prone to feed upon whatever food
is most easy to procure at the time.
So that if berries or fruit are abund-
ant in a locality they will constitute
the birds main food for the time, and
when insects swarm in great numbers
the birds are attracted to that abund-
ant source and feed upon them until |
the supply gives out.
Notable among many instances !
mentioned are various local eXtermin
atoms of the Rocky Mountain or mi
gratory locust, which ever since 1918 |
has at times threatened grain fields |
in several sections. especially on the |
great plains. Mr.. McAtee's article /
tells of numerous times when grain |
growers despaired of saving crops |
from hordes of locusts so thick upon |
the ground as to be counted by the |
hundreds upon a square foot of field |
Just as they had given up hope of |
saving their crops, flocks of yellow |
head and Brewers blackbirds, gulls, |
quail, English sparrows, among other
species, appeared and fell upon the
pests with such effect that much of
he grain survived the attacks.
Eat Many Weed Seeds.
The article includes many instances
IS well of saving crops. both field
md garden, in eastern sections of /
lear humiliation by grubs, moths
,aterpillars, beetles and parasites in
rees, especially in orchards, and 4
hows the great good done by birds
n eating weed seeds
Owls have been placed in rat OF
nice infested cellars and granaries,
ie says. with such success as to elm II
nate there that source of widespread
economic loss in grains and cereals.
Hot house gardeners, he asserts, S
ave often found it profitable to in {
reduce various species of birds {
nown to be insect destroyers within {
he houses instead of spraying, on
therwise using chemicals and fumi-
ating. The spraying processes. he
avs. have often been found to weak {
n and stunt the tender young plants
lille nc disadvantage other wise
rose from the presence of the birds. d
While it is true, he says. that many t
pecies feed upon and yearly destroy .
uantities of grains fruits or berries, 9
ne good they do in eradicating or 1
eeping down the numbers of the il
rowers' other enemies is more than
-orth this slight reimbursement. n
Ducks a Foe of Mosquitoes. t
He also tells how ducks have been o
sed as exterminators of insect pests, a
specially mosquitoes, by keeping b
lem on ponds or in marshes, where e
hey feed upon the larvae or young. 1
'ucks have proven invaluable in thus j
leaning out marshy sections which t
ouId not otherwise be rid of mos r
uitoes by draining. p
Quail have also been introduced in C
} alfalfa fields, where they are great e
estroyers Of the alfalfa weevil, and Fl
lille the farmers were at first against c
lie practice, the better crops coming C
ON the fields where the quail had Il
most eradicated the WeeVil demon O.