George M Linz

George M Linz
  • Doctor of Philosophy
  • Retired at Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

About

240
Publications
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3,227
Citations
Current institution
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Current position
  • Retired

Publications

Publications (240)
Article
Full-text available
en Understanding how birds move through and use landscapes across their annual cycle is a key goal of migration research. Breeding populations of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) in the northern United States and Canada are known to migrate to the southern United States each fall and exhibit strong fidelity to the same breeding areas eac...
Article
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We evaluated flight feather molt of Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) collected in North Dakota to determine differences by age and sex and to infer seasonal relationships with nesting and migration. On average, the HY preformative molt started and ended later than the AHY prebasic molt. Percentages of molting AHY males and females in weekly col...
Article
European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, Figure 1) are an invasive species in the United States. The first recorded release of the birds was in 1890 in New York City’s Central Park. Because starlings easily adapt to a variety of habitats, nest sites and food sources, the birds spread quickly across the country. Today, there are about 150 million starl...
Article
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The United States and Canada have invested substantial resources over the past 60 years for developing methods to reduce blackbird (Icteridae) damage to agricultural crops, to manage large winter roosts that create nuisance and public health problems, and to mitigate conflicts with endangered species. It is an indication of the challenging nature o...
Article
Frugivorous birds impose significant costs on tree fruit growers through direct consumption of fruit and grower efforts to manage birds. We documented factors that influenced tree fruit bird damage from 2012 through 2014 with a coordinated field study in Michigan, New York, and Washington. For sweet cherries, percent bird damage was higher in 2012...
Article
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The term blackbird loosely refers to a diverse group of about 10 species of North American birds that belong to the avian family Icteridae. The most common species include: Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) Great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) Brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) Yellow-headed bla...
Article
Some fruit-eating bird species commonly consume cultivated fruit. Species-specific variation in diet preferences could result in varying use of orchards and impacts on the fruit-producing industry by different bird species. However, species-specific studies of avian orchard use are lacking, particularly throughout the fruit-growing season. Our obje...
Article
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From 2001 to 2013 (except 2004), the National Sunflower Association sponsored a comprehensive production survey of physiologically mature sunflower (Helianthus annuus) fields in the Canadian province of Manitoba and eight states in the United States. Trained teams of surveyors randomly stopped at one sunflower field for every 4,047 – 6,070 ha (10,0...
Chapter
Flocks of granivorous birds, ranging in size from a few to millions, can be found in every sunflower growing region and have been documented to cause serious economic losses. Avian species that damage sunflower generally belong to the parakeet, dove, cockatoo, sparrow, crow, and blackbird families. Bird damage begins after the ray petals drop from...
Article
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Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) in central North Dakota undergo prebasic molt or prejuvenile molt during late summer. Nestling Yellow-headed Blackbirds initiate a complete prejuvenile molt, grow their primary and secondary regimes in about 40 days, completing molt after they leave the nest by the first week in August. Remig...
Article
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Blackbirds (Icterinae) in North America, and dickcissels (Spiza americana Gmelin), eared doves (Zenaida auriculata Des Murs), and monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus Boddaert) in South America can cause serious economic damage to grain crops. Farmers frequently advocate lethal bird damage abatement measures based on the perceived need to take immed...
Article
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Birds can cause extensive crop damage in the United States. In some regions, depredating species comprise a substantial portion of the total avian population, emphasizing their importance both economically and ecologically. We used the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count data from the south-central United States and mixed-effects models t...
Article
Knowledge of factors influencing animal abundance is important to wildlife biologists developing management plans. This is especially true for economically important species such as blackbirds (Icteridae), which cause more than $100 million in crop damages annually in the United States. Using data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the N...
Article
Bird-livestock interactions have been implicated as potential sources for bacteria within concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO). European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in particular are known to contaminate cattle feed and water with Salmonella enterica through their fecal waste. We propose that fecal waste is not the only mechanisms through...
Article
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Most nonlethal methods available for reducing blackbird (Icteridae) damage to sunflowers rely on fright responses (e.g., propane cannons, distress calls, pyrotechnics, raptor silhouettes) that birds quickly learn to ignore. Chemicals that cause taste or feeding aversions have potential to overcome the spatial and behavioral limitations of frighteni...
Conference Paper
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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....
Article
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The Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a polygynous species, and females are typically responsible for the majority of parental care. Despite their limited involvement, males can contribute to reproduction through nest defense and the feeding of nestlings. Some aspects of nest defense may be learned, and older males are more likely to fe...
Article
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Bird populations are influenced by many environmental factors at both large and small scales. Our study evaluated the influences of regional climate and land-use variables on the Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Black Tern (Childonias niger), and Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) in the prairie potholes of the upper Midwest of the United States....
Article
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Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP) have shown potential to reduce blackbird (Icteridae) damage in commercial sunflower. Also known as lure, decoy, or trap crops, WCSP are strategically placed food plots that provide an easily available and proximate food source that entices blackbirds away from valuable commercial crops. By providing an a...
Article
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Anthraquinone is an effective chemical seed repellent that protects newly planted crops from depredation by granivorous birds. We are experimenting with foliar applications of 9,10-anthraquinone (AQ) to reduce blackbird (Icteridae) damage to ripening sunflower. Sunflower heads generally turn downward as the achenes mature. With the methods currentl...
Article
The goal of our study was to use spatial scan statics to determine whether the night roosts of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) act as point sources for the dissemination of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among dairy farms. From 2007 to 2009, we collected bovine faecal samples (n = 9000) and starling gastrointestinal contents (n = 430) from 150 dair...
Article
For sunflower producers in North Dakota, blackbird (Icterinae) damage is a chronic problem costing millions of dollars annually. Sunflower damage surveys were last completed in the state in 1979-1980. Since the last surveys, corn plantings have increased 6-fold to 1500 x 10(3) ha, whereas sunflower hectarage has declined by >75% to 310 x 10(3) ha....
Article
Red-winged Blackbirds (RWBL; Agelaius phoeniceus) have a polygynous mating system and, because territorial males commonly have harems of two to five females, some second-year (SY) and after-second-year (ASY) males do not establish nesting territories, but become floaters. Previous studies have revealed high rates of extra-pair copulations in this s...
Article
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Knowledge of the behavior and movement patterns of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris L.) is important to wildlife managers that seek to resolve conflicts at livestock facilities. We captured and radio tagged 10 starlings at each of 5 dairies in northeastern Ohio. From September 19 to October 31, 2007, we obtained sufficient data from 40 birds to...
Article
Wildlife repellents provide a non-lethal alternative for managing agricultural impacts associated with wildlife depredation. To evaluate a potential bird repellent for ripening corn, we conducted a feeding experiment at the United States Department of Agriculture, National Wildlife Research Center with 66 red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)...
Article
In the U.S., DRC-1339 baitings for blackbirds (Icteridae) are generally done under the pesticide label, Compound DRC-1339 Concentrate – Staging Areas. DRC-1339 is a slow-acting avicide and gives the birds enough time to leave the baiting sites. Carcass searches and other forms of onsite counts are ineffective. Instead, linear models (LM) are used....
Article
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Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) growers in North Dakota and South Dakota harvest-ed 593,522 ha in 2012, valued at $US600 million. Blackbirds, numbering about 75 million, annual-ly damage 2 to 3% of the crop. Damage tends to be clumped around cattail (Typha spp.) dominated wetlands with standing water. In an attempt to reduce sunflower damage, three g...
Article
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After the reproductive period, blackbirds in the northern Great Plains aggregate in large flocks that feed on ripening crops, especially sunflower. At today’s prices, blackbirds eat about $8–12 million of sunflower annually in northern Great Plains, with most of this damage occurring in North Dakota and South Dakota (Peer et al. 2003). Additional e...
Article
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Since the mid-1900s, blackbird depredation has become an expensive problem for farmers in the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada (Blackwell et al. 2003). Damage to crops from blackbirds costs the growers of sunflower millions annually (Peer et al. 2003). The problem stems from two concurrent events: ripening of sunflowers and fledg...
Article
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) became an economically important crop in North Dakota in the 1970s, providing a major source of food for post-breeding blackbirds (Icteridae). Reducing local blackbird populations with rice grains treated with an avicide is one proposed alternative for reducing sunflower damage. In fall 2007 and 2008, we evaluated t...
Article
The objective of this producer survey was to identify and estimate damage caused by bird-livestock interactions in commercial dairies. The interactions between birds and livestock have previously been implicated in causing economic damage while contributing to the environmental dissemination of microorganisms pathogenic to livestock and humans. Ver...
Article
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We monitored site-use and movements of 102 radio-tagged European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) during the winter months at 2 concentrated animal feeding operations (feedlots) in central Kansas. Our research investigated the spatial ecology of wintering starlings as part of a broad epidemiological study on the possible role of starlings in pathogen t...
Article
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European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are a known risk factor for the occurrence of microorganisms that are pathogenic to cattle and humans in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Starling use of CAFOs is known to vary in response to weather; starling control operations on CAFOs often are timed to coincide with favorable environmental co...
Article
Our objective was to determine the role that European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) play in the epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in dairy cattle. We visited 150 dairy farms in Ohio twice during summer and fall months from 2007 to 2009. Fresh faecal pats from 30 lactating cows were collected during each visit. Information on farm management a...
Article
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European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are agricultural and societal pests in the U.S., thus, understanding their migratory behavior is of practical importance to resource managers. We leg-banded starlings and used publicly reported encounters with them to estimate migration distances traveled by wintering populations to reach their reproductive ter...
Article
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Blackbirds in the northern Great Plains aggregate in large flocks that feed on ripening crops, especially sunflower. Damage to the sunflower crop begins when the achenes reach the “milk” stage, which is in mid-August to late August. Direct economic losses from bird damage to sunflower probably exceed $5 million, annually (Peer et al., 2003). Grower...
Article
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Blackbird damage to sunflower in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota is an unyielding challenge to the industry. Large populations of blackbirds and environmental concerns have driven the direction of research toward nonlethal methods that can be implemented locally. Currently, Wildlife Services field specialists...
Article
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European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) began roosting in downtown Omaha, Nebraska during the fall of 2004 causing significant financial loss and threats to human health and safety. Property owners exhausted a variety of nonlethal methods to deter roosting starlings before contacting U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection S...
Article
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Managing European starlings with DRC-1339 near urban and suburban areas can lead to adverse publicity resulting from encounters by the public with dead and dying birds. Collectors could retrieve the birds, if the likely sites of mass mortalities were known. In December 2009, we radio tagged 50 starlings at 3 sites in central New Jersey and studied...
Data
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European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are a known risk factor for the occurrence of microorganisms that are pathogenic to cattle and humans in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Starling use of CAFOs is known to vary in response to weather; starling control operations on CAFOs often are timed to coincide with favorable environmental co...
Article
Full-text available
Even though avian damage to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a worldwide economic issue, several of the current methods used to reduce sunflower damage were developed and tested in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States. An intensive research program was conducted in that area because of the regionalized concentration of sunflower produ...
Article
We evaluated anthraquinone as an avian repellent to reduce take of non-target birds from zinc phosphide rodenticide applications. We observed zero mortalities and no overt signs of zinc phosphide toxicosis among 20 Canada geese (Branta canadensis), 24 horned larks (Eremophila alpestris), and 47 ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) offered ba...
Article
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Aim We examined the influences of regional climate and land-use variables on mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), blue-winged teal (Anas discors), ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) and pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) abundances to inform conservation planning in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States. Location The US portion of Bird Conserv...
Article
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1. Characterizing and mitigating the disease risks associated with wildlife use of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) can reduce the spread of micro-organisms throughout the environment while increasing agricultural productivity. To better understand the disease risks associated with bird use of CAFOs, we assessed the capacity of Europe...
Article
Hybrid cattail (Typha×glauca Godr.) has become the dominant emergent vegetation in many wetlands of central North America’s Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). Hybrid cattail, an invasive species, can outcompete native emergents and form a dense canopy that alters the original physiognomy and ecological processes of the wetland. Blackbirds (Icteridae), w...
Article
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European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are an invasive bird species known to cause damage to plant and animal agriculture. New evidence suggests starlings may also contribute to the maintenance and spread of diseases within livestock facilities. Identifying and mitigating the risk pathways that contribute to disease in livestock is necessary to redu...
Article
Non-lethal alternatives are needed to manage bird damage to confectionery and oilseed sunflower crops (Helianthus annuus). Ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) can cause localized damage to newly planted sunflower, and blackbirds (Icterids) damage ripening sunflower annually in the United States of America. We conducted seed germination expe...
Article
Male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) exhibit a difference in nest provisioning rates along an east-west gradient, in North America. North Dakota is located in the center of North America and harbors a large population of breeding red-winged blackbirds (RWBL). This location provided an opportunity to compare provisioning rates in the cen...
Article
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Beginning in 1991, USDA’s Wildlife Services (WS) began aerially spraying cattail-dominated wetlands with glyphosate herbicide to reduce sunflower damage by blackbirds. The techniques used by WS were developed by scientists over 20 years of research that included types of spray patterns, percent basin coverage, environmental impacts, and glyphosate...
Article
We tested a bioenergetics model integrated within a mortality model that estimates numbers of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) poisoned with the avicide, Compound DRC-1339 Concentrate. The bioenergetics model predicted daily metabolic rate. Accuracy and reliability of this variable is critical because other algorithms (e.g., toxicity regressio...
Article
Nonlethal alternatives are needed to manage blackbird (Icterids) damage to rice and sunflower production in the United States. We evaluated 4 registered fungicides on rice seeds (i.e., Allegiance FL, Thiram 42-S, Trilex, and Vitavax 200 preplant seed treatments) and 2 foliar pesticides on sunflower seeds (Cobalt insecticide and Flock Buster bird re...
Article
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Agricultural fields are often overlooked as post-breeding and migratory bird habitat, even though many species use row-crop fields in the northern Great Plains. We monitored bird use, crop and non-crop vegetation characteristics and abundance, and land use around (≤2.4 km) 35 8-ha Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP) and one commercial sunf...
Article
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Additional bait substrates for the avicide, DRC-1339 Concentrate (3-chloro-4- methylaniline hydrochloride), could provide USDA/Wildlife Services with more fl exibility when managing nuisance populations of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) at livestock facilities. From January 11 to 21, 2008, we conducted 11 2-choice preference tests with 6 bai...
Article
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During late summer and fall, a hectare of cattail in a cattail-dominated wetland can hold about 1500 blackbirds. Thus, even small wetlands of 5-1 0 hectares that become roosts can cause significant problems for sunflower producers. USDA Wildlife Services has a cattail management program in North Dakota and South Dakota that helps sunflower producer...
Article
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An estimated 75 million blackbirds migrate through the sunflower growing regions of the Great Plains and can cause severe damage to ripening sunflower and corn. If bird damage can be reduced or kept at levels
Article
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Red-winged blackbirds (RWBL) are a polygynous species, and disruptions to either territorial behavior or reproductive fitness of the males has potential to lower annual productivity of several females. A reduction in the number of fledglings produced per territory could ultimately result in lower damage to grain crops, at least on a local scale. It...
Article
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North Dakota is the top sunflower producer in the United States, annually harvesting about 1 million acres (404,686 ha). Recently, corn has become a major crop within the state. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), and yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) often cause significant dama...
Article
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Red-winged Blackbirds (RWBL) and Common Grackles (COGR) are the two most abundant blackbird species on the continent; Brewer’s Blackbirds (BRBL) are a much less common, but closely related species, and along with European Starlings (EUST), they are two of the most common groups of birds in North America, with combined populations that reach into th...
Article
We radio tagged and tracked 50 European starlings between December 2008 and January 2009 at 3 feedlots in the northern Texas Panhandle. Daily fidelity to sites of capture (home feedlots) was different among the 3 radio-tagged cohorts. Cohorts from Sites A and C were recorded at home feedlots on 48 and 59% of tracking days, respectively. The Site B...
Article
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The prevalence of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis isolated from the feces of wild European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) humanely trapped at a feedlot in central Kansas was assessed. All E. coli and Salmonella isolates recovered were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using National Antimicrobi...
Article
Wildlife repellents provide a non-lethal alternative for managing the monetary impacts of agricultural depredation. For the purpose of developing of an effective avian repellent, we established repellency thresholds of an anthraquinone-based repellent for Canada geese (Branta canadensis), red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), and ring-necked...
Article
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Broad-spectrum herbicide applications and improved harvesting efficiency of crops have reduced the availability of weed seeds and waste grains for game and nongame wildlife. Over the last decade, corn and soybean plantings have steadily increased in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota, while sunflower plantings have declined. The PPR i...
Article
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Post-copulatory sexual selection (PCSS) is thought to be one of the evolutionary forces responsible for the rapid and divergent evolution of sperm design. However, whereas in some taxa particular sperm traits are positively associated with PCSS, in other taxa, these relationships are negative, and the causes of these different patterns across taxa...
Article
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Post-copulatory sexual selection (PCSS) is thought to be one of the evolutionary forces responsible for the rapid and divergent evolution of sperm design. However, whereas in some taxa particular sperm traits are positively associated with PCSS, in other taxa, these relationships are negative, and the causes of these different patterns across taxa...
Article
Sperm morphology varies considerably across taxa, and postcopulatory sexual selection is thought to be one of the main forces responsible for this diversity. Several studies have investigated the effects of the variation in sperm design on sperm function, but the consequences of variation in sperm design on testis morphology have been overlooked. T...
Article
Blackbird (family lcteridae) depredation on sunflower (Helianthus annuus) crops in the prairie states of the United States has motivated the proposed use of an avicide, DRC-1339 (3-chloro-4-methylaniline), to decrease their numbers. The resulting mortality of blackbirds at wetland roosts could increase the potential of avian botulism occurring in a...
Article
Chemical repellents sometimes can provide a nonlethal alternative for reducing wildlife impacts to agricultural production. In late summer and autumn 2002, we evaluated Bird Shield™ (active ingredient: methyl anthranilate, Bird Shield Repellent Corporation, Spokane, Wash.) as a blackbird (Icteridae) repellent in Missouri rice fields and North Dakot...
Article
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From 1992 to 1995 we used radiotelemetry to monitor winter habitat selection and survival of female ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in southeastern North Dakota. We captured 100 birds at nine sites in six study blocks centered on cattail-dominated (Typha spp.) semipermanent wetlands. Pheasants showed nonrandom habitat use at two hierarc...
Article
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We surveyed 30 roadsides in North Dakota's Prairie Pothole Region for birds and active nests between May and July 2001–2002. Each roadside transect was 1608 m and had ≥200 linear meters of standing cattail (Typha spp.). We recorded 45 bird species; four species of Icteridae dominated the avifauna. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were bo...
Article
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We evaluated several registered fungicides and insecticides, and several natural compounds as candidate blackbird repellents for protecting agricultural production. We tested more than 750 red-winged blackbirds at the National Wildlife Research Center's outdoor animal research facility in Fort Collins, CO to evaluate (1) their preference for treate...
Article
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For decades, blackbird depredation of sunflower has been a problem. Sunflower growers consistently place blackbirds in the top tier of problems associated with growing sunflower in the northern Great Plains. Many non-lethal tactics have been employed in an attempt to protect ripening sunflower from foraging flocks of blackbirds. Thinning cattail-ch...
Article
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Maturing sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is susceptible to damage by birds, especially blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus and Quiscalus quiscula). The National Sunflower Association (NSA) identified Blackbird damage as a major issue in the production of sunflower throughout the US. In 2007 bird damage was identified as the number one yield limiting f...
Article
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The last comprehensive field surveys of bird damage to sunflower in North Dakota were conducted in 1979 and 1980. Average economic damage across years was slightly over US $5.0 million. Sunflower prices have appreciably increased since these monetary losses were calculated. As corn acreages in North Dakota have increased, so have complaints from gr...
Article
In 2004, USDA's Wildlife Services began to cost share 8-ha Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP) with sunflower growers to lure migrating blackbirds away from commercial sunflower fields. During late summer and fall of 2004 and 2005, blackbirds used sunflower more than other crops, especially WCSP placed near blackbird roosts. Blackbird dens...
Article
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Blackbirds share wetland habitat with many waterfowl species in Bird Conservation Region 11 (BCR 11), the prairie potholes. Because of similar habitat preferences, there may be associations between blackbird populations and populations of one or more species of waterfowl in BCR11. This study models populations of red-winged blackbirds and yellow-he...
Article
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The red-winged blackbird, yellow-headed blackbird, and common grackle are the three most copious species of black- birds in North Dakota. These three species alone comprise almost 10% of North Dakota’s avian population. Combining blackbird abundance with their food habitats make them significant sunflower agricultural pests. Annual blackbird damage...
Article
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Wildlife conservation sunflower plots (lure plots) are used to protect high value oil and confectionery sunflower. Lure plots are used to draw blackbirds away from commercial fields to reduce sunflower damage. From 2004-2007, USDA Wildlife Services funded a pilot program for growers to plant 20-acre lure plots to test their effectiveness for reduci...
Article
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Sunflower producers in the northern Great Plains are annually plagued by feeding flocks of blackbirds, especially red-winged blackbirds (RWBL). Increased sunflower production and concomitant human-blackbird conflicts have prompted sunflower producers to demand that management strategies be developed to reduce the annual crop losses estimated at ≥ $...
Article
Full-text available
For decades, blackbird depredation of sunflower has been a problem. Sunflower growers consistently place blackbirds in the top tier of problems associated with growing sunflower in the northern Great Plains. Many non-lethal tactics have been employed in an attempt to protect ripening sunflower from foraging flocks of blackbirds. Thinning cattail-ch...
Article
Full-text available
DRC-1339 is a pesticide used to induce mortality in pest birds and is being used successfully to reduce bird damage to a variety of agricultural products. The feasibility of using live decoy traps baited with DRC-1339-treated rice baits is being evaluated for reducing blackbird damage to sunflower in North Dakota. To estimate the take associated wi...
Article
Routes that cattle become exposed to and contaminated with Escherichia coli O157 remain enigmatic. To ascertain the potential role of wild birds, particularly European starlings, in the transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among dairy farms, the ecology of this pathogen in these birds was studied. Bird movement from roost sites to farms was mon...
Article
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Kansas is a major producer of livestock and has an abundance of over-wintering European starlings. Roost sizes for over-wintering starlings can be as large as 5 million individuals. Starlings cause a substantial amount of economic damage to farmers. Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella can cause illness in both livestock and humans, and cattle w...
Article
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Sunflower, due to the easy accessibility and high nutritional value of its seed, is particularly vulnerable to damage by birds (Figure 101). Seeds are exposed and the large head serves as a perch during feeding. Sunflower seed is a preferred bird food because the seed contains many proteins and fats essential to their growth, molt, fat storage and...
Article
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Non-target species may be exposed to rodenticides via feeding on rodenticide baits or the carcasses of poisoned target species. As invasive species frequently negatively impact threatened or endangered (T and E) species, there is frequently spatial and temporal overlap of invasive species and T and E species. Risk assessments provide a means to est...
Article
The introduction of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in New York City in 1890 and 1891 resulted in their permanent establishment in North America. The successful occupation of North America (and most other continents as well) has earned the starling a nomination in the Top 100 list of ‘Worlds Worst’ invaders. Pimentel et al. (2000) estimated t...

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