Daily news
30 June 2017
Magpies recruited to safeguard vineyards from grape-eating birds
A smart solution isn’t necessarily a high-tech one
By Alice Klein
Bring in the big guns. Magpies are being lured in to help ward off smaller birds that feast on grapes.
Fruit-eating birds like starlings, rosellas and thrushes cause substantial damage to Australian vineyards, in some cases munching through 80 per cent of the fruit.
Farmers try to deter them using balloons that look like predatory birds, gas cannons that let off loud booms, and reflective tape that flutters in the wind. However, the birds soon wise up to these tricks and ignore them.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2139351-magpies-recruited-to-safeguard-vineyards-from-grape-eating-birds/
