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4242024
Research Paper (Yield Loss: Birds)
Estimating the Damage of Birds to Wheat, Gurma Melon and Cowpea Crops
During the Ripening Period at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt
M.A. Salama1*, M.I. Aamir1, A.A.G. Farag1, M.A. Issa2 and M.A. Hendawy1
(1) Plant Protection Department, Agriculture faculty, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt; (2) Harmful Animal Department,
Plant Protection Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
*Email address of the corresponding author: m.abosalama949@gmail.com
Abstract
Salama, M.A., M.I. Aamir, A.A. Gh. Farag, M.A. Issa and M.A. Hendawy. 2024. Estimating the Damage of Birds to
Wheat, Gurma Melon and Cowpea Crops During the Ripening Period at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Arab Journal of
Plant Protection, 42(4): 552-557. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001281
The damage caused by birds to wheat crop is increasing during the ripening stage. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus niloticus is
the main bird pest that attacks wheat spikes during the ripening stage (milk, dough, and mature levels) during 2020 and 2021 seasons. The 6th
week of the ripening period suffered the highest damage in all samples compared with other weeks. The samples collected from the field edge
showed the highest damage, with 13.05 and 6.75% yield loss during 2020 and 2021, respectively. The samples collected at 6 m from borders
didn't show any damage. The statistical analysis indicated that there were significant differences between the tested distances in all weeks of
the repining stage during 2020 and 2021 seasons. The gurma melon fruits were attacked by hooded crow, Corvus corone during the ripening
stage and the mean proportion of damaged fruits reached 9.47% at the 6th week of fruit development. The special features of the gurma melon
plants made it easy for hooded crows to land and take off, thus the birds attacked the crop at any point in the field, thus there was no significant
difference between the fruit damage level and distance from the field border. Cowpea was an attractive crop for many bird species such as
pigeons and house sparrows. Birds did attack the cowpea pods during the ripening stage, with 6.97% damage during this stage.
Keywords: Damage, birds, house sparrow, hooded crow, wheat, gurma melon, cowpea.
Introduction
1
The Problems related to wild bird's injuries to agriculture
crops are considered more communal in recent decades.
Birds can cause damage to many agriculture crops (Attia,
2013; DeGrazio, 1978; Micaelo et al., 2023). The extent and
degree of damage is highly variable according to the location
and growth stage (Issa, 2018). Quantitative and qualitative
damage can reach 60% (Rizk et al., 2020), and crop losses
amount to millions of dollars (Anderson et al., 2013).
Cereal crops have an important role in global food security
and wheat is the most important one (Laskowski et al.,
2019). In Egypt, wheat production usually is not enough for
local consumption (The World Bank, 2017), accordingly,
there is a need to increase production and decrease losses,
including loses due to bird damage. The proportion of wheat
damage caused by birds reached 13.09% at Sharkia
Governorate, 9.19% at Ismailia Governorate, 15.7% at
Sohag Governorate and 25.9% at Qalubia Governorate
(Attia, 2006; Hassan et al., 2022; Yaacoub et al., 2019).
The Gurma melon, also known as seed or Nubian melon,
Citrullus lantus var. colocynthoides (Elsebaie et al., 2022) is
a variety of watermelon cultivated in Egypt for seeds only.
The fruit components consist of 65.35% pulp, crude protein
0.84%, moisture 94.55% and seed 4.9%, the pulp is creamy
in color with a highly slight sweet taste (Salama, et al., 2019).
In recent years farmers began to grow it for many reasons,
especially for its tolerance to salt and drought, thus it is a
suitable crop for the newly reclaimed fields. Furthermore, it
has an economic significant because Egypt exports a
considerable amount of its seeds (El-Shabrawy & Hatem,
https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001281
2024 Arab Society for Plant Protection
2008). Gurma melon, Citrullus lantus var. colocynthoides
fruit is attractive to birds attack, such as the house crow,
Corvus splendens, common myna, Acridotheres tristris and
house sparrow, Passer domesticus (Manzoor et al., 2013).
Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., a leguminous crop
whose green pods and grains are constitute a good part of the
human diet in Egypt (Issa et al., 2019; Gonçalves et al.,
2016). The high protein content in the green pods and dry
seeds make it a target for some bird species such as pigeons
and house sparrows (Issa et al., 2019; Kale et al., 2014).
The objective of the current study was to estimate bird
damage to wheat, cowpea, and Gurma melon plants during
the ripening period at Sharkia Governorate, in an effort to
develop a program to reduce birds damage to these important
crops.
Materials and Methods
These experiments were conducted at two separate locations:
at Ezweleen village, El-Husseinieh district and El-Masaeed
village, Saan El-Hajar district, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt,
during the growing 2020 and 2021 seasons. Summer and
winter crops were chosen to carry out these experiments.
Assessment of birds’ damage to bread wheat
Bird damage assessment in wheat fields was carried out
during the winter 2020 and 2021 seasons. Three plots, one
feddan each cultivated with wheat crop were selected
randomly in aforementioned locations. Twenty samples were
collected from each plot at different distances from the field
edge (0, 2, 4 and 6 m). The samples were collected weekly,
553 Arab J. Pl. Prot. Vol. 42, No. 4 (2024)
starting from spikes emergence until harvest. Sampling was
carried out according to the methods developed by Poche et
al. (1982). A square wooden frame 0.5 ×0.5 m was used for
sampling from the selected fields. The numbers of damaged
and undamaged ears that were included within the frame
were recorded. The ear damage was scored as different
categories according to De-Haven (1974) as follows: 1= 10
% average damage (1-20 % damage), 2= 30 % average
damage (21-40% damage), 3= 50 % average damage (41-
60% damage), 4= 70 % average damage (61-80% damage),
5= 90 % average damage (81-100 % damage). The
percentage of damage was calculated as follows:
Damage %=
undamaged × 0.0 + 10% damage ×
0.1+ 30% damage × 0.3+ 50% damage
× 0.5+ 70% damage x 0.7+ 90%
damage × 0.9
× 100
Total investigated ears
Assessment of birds’ damage to gurma melon
Birds’ injury to gurma melon fruits were induced during
summer season 2020, throughout fruit development till
harvesting. Three gurma melon fields in different locations-
one feddan each- were monitored for birds damage. Twenty
samples were collected weekly at four distances from the
field’s edge (0, 2, 4 and 6 m) in the direction of the center of
the experimental field. The sample included fruits from
twenty successive plants at the same distanc from the edge,
and the fruits were inspected to estimate fruits damage. The
proportion of damage (%) was calculated by the following
formula according to De-Haven (1974):
Damage (%) =
No. of damaged fruits
× 100
Total No. of examined fruits
Assessment of birds’ damage to cowpea
Assessment of birds’ damage to cowpea plants was achieved
during the summer 2020 season, from milky stage till
harvest. Three replicates of one feddan each cultivated with
cowpea were selected in Ezweleen Village, Husseinieh
district, Sharkia Governorate. Samples were collected
weekly at four distances from the edge toward the center of
the experimental field, (0, 2, 4 and 6 m). The samples
consisted of twenty successive plants at the same distance
from the edge were inspected directly in the field and the
damage level was recorded. The proportion of damage was
calculated by the following formula according to De-Haven
(1974) as above:
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis of all data was done by using the
statistical software CoStat (2005). The differences between
treatments were compared using Duncan's multiple range
tests at P=0.05 (Duncan, 1955).
Results and Discussion
Birds damage to wheat
Results obtained (Table 1, Figure 1) revealed that the birds
damage to the wheat crop increased throughout the ripening
stage. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus niloticus was
the main bird pest that attacked wheat spikes during the
ripening stage (milk, dough, and mature spikes), during both
2020 and 2021 seasons. The 6th week of the ripening stage
showed the highest damage. Results showed that the birds
damage to wheat ears at the edge of the field during 2020
season was the highest in 6th week of the ripening stage
(29.03%), followed by the 5th week (19.93%), whereas there
was no damage during the 1st and the 2nd week of ripening
for the edge samples. In general, Damage was highest for the
edge sample (13.05%), followed by the samples at 2m from
the edge (1.07%), with no damage 6 m from the edge. The
birds damage to wheat plants during the 2021 season were
slightly less than in the first season (2020). The proportion
of damage at the field’s edge were 17.03% & 16.84% during
the 6th and 5th weeks of ripening, respectively. The mean
birds damage reached 6.75% and 0.58% at 0.0 and 2m from
the edge, respectively.
The statistical analysis of the dataobtained showed that
there was a significant difference between the damage rate
(%) at different distances from the field edge during all
weeks of reipining stage in both seasons. In general, it was
shown that there was no significant birds damage during the
1st and 2nd week of ripening stage at all studied distances
from the field edge, and damage started in the 3rd week of
ripening maimly at the edge and 2 m from the edge with
much less damage at 4 and 6 m away from the edge,
especially in the first season.
These results agree with what has been reported by
Hassan et al., (2022), who mentioned that bird's injury is
variable according to crop type and distance from the field’s
edge. Issa et al., (2019) reported that the house sparrow
Passer domesticus niloticus attacks wheat crop, causing the
highest damage rate on the 6th week of ripening stage
(14.82%) at Sharkia governorate. Kandil & Mobarak (2017)
showed that the average damage rate caused by house
sparrow to wheat crop, at El-Dakhla, was 4.46% and 3.56%
during 2014 and 2015 seasons, respectively. The high
damage recorded during the first season of this study (2020)
can be attributed to many perching sites (common reed,
shrubs and small trees) at the field edges which led to more
severe attack by birds, whereas in in the 2nd year, the farmers
pruned the border plants, and consequently the perching sites
were reduced.
Birds damage to gurma melon
The gurma melon crop is cultivated in Egypt for seed
consumption and exports. There are many pests causing a
significant effect on productivity and birds, especially the
hooded crow (Corvus corone), that attacks the gurma melon
fruits during the ripening stage, causes significant loss.
Results obtained (Table 2 and Figure 2) indicate that a
significant damage occurred by the hooded crow to gurma
melon fruits at EL-Husseinieh district fields during the 2020
season. The highest mean damage rate (%) occurred during
the 6th week of fruit development (9.47%) followed by week
5 (6.49%) and week 4 (2.98%), whereas in the 1st, 2nd & 3rd
weeks there was no damage.
The highest damage of gurma melon fruits in week 6th
may be due to the fact that fruits reached the full ripening
stage and due to wilted leaves it was easier to spot the fruits
by the hooded crow (Corvus corone). In addition, the fruits
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contained 94.55% moisture and during hot summer (August)
the hooded crow needs water badly.
The statistical analysis showed that there were no
significant differences in the damage caused by the bird
between different distances to the field edge during the study
period because birds can land and take-off easily in the entire
field without any restrictions. However, there were
significant differences between different weeks during fruit
development period (ripening stage).
The results obtained in this study were in agreement to
what has been reported by Manzoor et al. (2013) in Pakistan,
who indicated that house crow (Corvus splendens), common
myna and house sparrow (Passer domesticus) caused a
serious damage resulting to economic losses in watermelon
(Citrulus lanatus) during the ripening stage. Issa & El-
Bakhshawngi (2018) revealed that the plants with heavy
foliage form a shade that protects fruits from birds attack,
and the damage start to increase when the leaves start to
wither.
Table 1. The damage rate (%) in wheat ears due to birds attack during 2020 and 2021 growing seasons.
Ripening stage
(weeks)
Season
Distance from the field’s edge (meters)
Mean
SE
LSD0.05
Edge
2.0
4.0
6.0
Total
1st
2020
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00
0.00
0.00 b
0.00
0.00
2021
0.00 b
0.00a
0.00 a
0.00 a
0.00
0.00 b
0.00
0.00
2nd
2020
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00b B
0.00
0.00
0.00 b
0.00
0.00
2021
0.00 b
0.00 a
0.00 a
0.00 a
0.00
0.00 b
0.00
0.00
3rd
2020
10.51 abA
0.25 b B
0.00 bB
0.00 B
10.76
2.69 ab
2.61
6.38
2021
1.63 bA
0.09 aB
0.00 bB
0.00 aB
1.72
0.43 b
0.40
1.02
4th
2020
18.83 abA
1.69 a B
0.00 bB
0.00 B
20.52
5.13 ab
4.58
11.72
2021
4.99 abA
0.59 aB
0.00 bB
0.00 aB
5.55
1.39 ab
1.21
2.82
5th
2020
19.93 abA
1.81 a B
0.00 bB
0.00 B
21.74
5.43 ab
4.85
12.45
2021
16.84 aA
1.31 aB
0.11 bB
0.00 aB
18.26
4.57 a
4.10
11.64
6th
2020
29.03 aA
2.66 a B
0.13aB
0.00 B
31.82
7.96 a
7.05
19.41
2021
17.03 aA
1.51 aB
0.35 aB
0.02 aB
18.91
4.73 a
4.11
11.72
Total
2020
78.30
6.41
0.13
0.00
84.84
21.21
-
2021
40.49
3.50
0.46
0.02
44.47
11.12
-
Mean
2020
13.05 A
1.07 B
0.02 B
0.00 B
-
-
-
4.69
2021
6.75 A
0.58 B
0.08 B
0.003 B
-
-
-
2.96
Means followed by the same capital letter(s) in the same row or the same small letters in the same column are not significantly different at
P=0.05, based on Duncan's multiple range test.
Figure 1. Degree of damage caused by house sparrow in wheat ears, moderate damage (left), heavy damage (right).
555 Arab J. Pl. Prot. Vol. 42, No. 4 (2024)
Birds damage to cowpea
Cowpea in Egypt is attacked by many bird species such as
pigeon and house sparrow. Results obtained in this study
(Table 2, Figure 3) indicate that the mean bird damage to
cowpea pods was 6.97%. During the ripening stage, the
highest mean damage occurred during the 6th week (4.70%)
followed by the 5th week (2.27%). There was no damage by
birds during the first four weeks of ripening stage at any
studied distance from the field edge. Damage by birds to
cowpea pods occurred only during the last two weeks of the
ripening stage.
Results obtained are in line with those reported by Kattab
(1993), who revealed that wild bird’s damage in peas reached
11.1 & 9.5% at old land and newly reclaimed area. Issa et al.,
(2019) reported that pigeons and house sparrow were the
main pests of cowpea pods, and the highest damage rate
occurred during the 5th week of the ripening stage (13.32%).
They also stated that birds attack cowpea pods during the
filing stage until harvest and may lead to complete crop loss,
thus farmers had to harvest the crop as soon as it matures.
Kale et al. (2014) mentioned that pigeons damaged the peas
crop causing a 42% loss.
Table 2. The extent of damage caused to gurma melon fruits and cowpea pods by the hooded crow during the ripening stage of
the 2020 growing season.
Fruit ripening stage period
(weeks)
Crop
Distance from the field edge (meters)
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
Total
Mean
1st
Gurma melon fruits
0.00 c
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 d
Cowpea pods
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 c
2nd
Gurma melon fruits
0.00 c
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 d
Cowpea pods
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 c
3rd
Gurma melon fruits
0.00 c
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 d
Cowpea pods
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 c
4th
Gurma melon fruits
5.18 bA
2.17b AB
1.08 bB
3.49 bAB
11.92
2.98 c
Cowpea pods
0.00 b
0.00 b
0.00 c
0.00 c
0.00
0.00 c
5th
Gurma melon fruits
6.16 bAB
9.52 aA
4.45 aB
5.82 bB
25.95
6.49 b
Cowpea pods
1.71 bA
3.77 aA
2.38 bA
1.21 bA
9.07
2.27 b
6th
Gurma melon fruits
11.05 aA
11.15 aA
5.85 aA
9.83 aA
37.88
9.47 a
Cowpea pods
4.53 aA
5.90 aA
5.60 aA
2.79 aA
18.82
4.70 a
Mean
Gurma melon fruits
3.73 A
3.81 A
1.89 A
3.19 A
-
-
Cowpea pods
1.04 A
1.61 A
1.33 A
0.67 A
-
-
Total
Gurma melon fruits
22.39
22.84
11.38
19.14
75.75
18.94
Cowpea pods
6.24
9.67
7.98
4.00
27.89
6.97
Means followed by the same capital letter(s) in the same row or the same small letters in the same column are not significantly different at
P=0.05, based on Duncan's multiple range test.
Figure 2. Degree of damage caused by hooded crow in gurma melon fruits, A: primary damage, B: primary damage followed
by secondary damage.
AB
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Figure 3. Damage caused by pigeon to cowpea pods, A: moderate damage, B: heavy Damage.
001281-https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP
Passer domesticus niloticus
Corvus corone
m.abosalama949@gmail.com
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12
Received: August 30, 2023; Accepted: December 6, 2023
