Bird Management in Fruit Crops: Economic, Consumer, and Biological Perspectives

Consumers are eating more fruit because of positive health effects, increasing the importance of fruit production in the global economy. Birds damage and consume large quantities of cultivated fruit. At the same time, birds provide recreational activities, economic activity from bird watching, and ecosystem services in the form of pest consumption. Thus, bird management is crucial to increasing fruit production but must be done sustainably to maintain environmental integrity and the value birds bring to human communities.

We are addressing bird management in fruit crops using research approaches from economics, food systems sociology, and biology. By generating and integrating information from these areas we can better understand costs and benefits of bird management strategies and inform fruit producers, consumers, and policy-makers.

We documented economic effects of bird damage through a survey distributed to fruit growers from five states. Growers estimated bird damage to sweet cherries in 2011 as between 4.8 and 31.4%, depending on the state, to tart cherries between 3.0 and 26.7%, to blueberries between 3.8 and 18.2%, to wine grapes between 2.9 and 9.2%, and to ‘Honeycrisp’ apples between 0.4 and 7.4%. Using these estimates, along with state-specific price, production, and acreage data, financial losses from birds were calculated. For blueberries, for example, statewide losses ranged from $586,000 in New York to $14,052,000 in Michigan. Wine grape losses ranged from $2,472,000 in Michigan to $49,100,000 in California.

We surveyed 1,000 consumers to quantify preferences and willingness to pay for fruit produced with various bird management practices. We then conducted experimental auctions to adjust willingness to pay measures. Preliminary results showed consumers were willing to pay more for fruit produced with bird management strategies like falconry or nest boxes that attract bird predators. They were not willing to pay as much for fruit produced with bird management strategies like lethal shooting or solutions sprayed on the crops.

Our biological fieldwork focuses on both field and regional scales. On the field scale, results indicate greater damage in small fields and at edges compared to interiors of fields, particularly edges next to woody vegetation. Promising bird deterrent techniques slated for large-scale replicated trials include air dancers and field-specific intensive management. Using nest boxes to attract bird predators is a low-cost, low-maintenance addition to pest management strategies. On a regional scale, bird damage is greater in years when overall fruit yields are lower, making bird management a higher priority in these years.