Not Just for the Birds
Bruce I. Knight, Under Secretary for
Marketing and Regulatory Programs
Managing Blackbirds, Starlings and Crows Conference
Nashville, TN
January 29, 2008
Welcome to the 2008 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Blackbird-Starling-Crow Conference. We appreciate your interest and support as we work together to address the issue of nuisance birds.
As a South Dakota farmer who frequently grows sunflowers, I know full well the economic damage black birds can cause.
Today we’ll be examining ways to reduce damage caused by blackbirds, starlings and crows—both in fields and farms and in suburbs and cities. We’re looking for new ideas and new opportunities to partner with you.
Our goal is to find long-term solutions that balance the needs of people and wildlife. To take a term from the Cold War, we need to find a strategy for “peaceful co-existence.” We also need to find ways to promote cooperation between the public and private sector.
As many of you know, the Senate version of the farm bill includes nonbinding language on the role of APHIS and the role of private pest companies in addressing nuisance birds. I intend for APHIS to honor that sense of the Senate.
I want to encourage you as strongly as possible to work these conflicts out amicably. We can reassure private contractors that APHIS won’t be bidding against them on work that can and should be done by the private sector.
Our role is to do the work that the private sector doesn’t want or can’t do, to assist those whose funds are limited and, when needed, to employ bird control chemicals that EPA restricts to APHIS’ use because of the hazards they pose. Basically, in the words of the President’s Management Agenda, do the work that is inherently governmental.
Let me turn now to one of APHIS’ Wildlife Services Program’s major responsibilities—conducting research to reduce the magnitude of problems caused by blackbirds, starlings, ravens and crows. We work in agricultural settings—farms, feedlots, dairy operations—as well as residential and business environments where birds can pose a nuisance.
Scientists and field specialists across the U.S. study and observe the birds and recommend options for addressing problems. We want to improve profitability for agricultural producers, safeguard human health and safety and protect the environment by developing new and improved wildlife damage management tools and techniques.
These birds pose a definite challenge because blackbirds and European starlings are abundant and widely spread across the U.S. We estimate winter populations between 750 million and 1 billion birds.
Unfortunately, as you know, the estimated annual damage these birds cause is high. Direct costs to grain, fruit and berry crops run more than $150 million each year. That doesn’t include damage abatement costs or money spent to prevent human health and safety hazards.
Feedlots and dairies are also hard hit. Large flocks of blackbirds, starlings and crows can consume or contaminate feed. In addition, bird droppings that land on fencing, corrals or other structures can speed up corrosion. Seeing large congregations of birds at feedlots and dairies can also discourage customers who may be concerned about possible diseases and lower weight gain. We estimate that these problems combined can cost producers as much as $5,000 per day!
In addition to addressing the concerns posed by nuisance birds, APHIS’ Wildlife Services staff is also involved in protecting threatened and endangered species and ecologically sensitive environments. And we’d like your help to work on these issues as well.
For example, we’re experiencing increasing populations of common grackles that prey on songbird eggs and nestlings. More brown-headed cowbirds mean more trouble for songbirds as well.
For many years, USDA Wildlife Services has been assisting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services with protecting the endangered Kirtland’s warbler from brown-headed cowbirds that bring parasites to the warblers’ nests in Michigan. We would welcome your cooperation and creative ideas for dealing with both grackles and cowbirds.
Large flocks of birds also pose problems in towns and cities. Blackbirds, starlings and crows that spend the winter in the Southeast leave behind droppings on sidewalks, park benches and playgrounds. They can also bring disease.
The good news is that we’ve made progress in dealing with nuisance birds. However, we all know that the nature of human-bird conflicts is dynamic and complex.
APHIS scientists are continually striving to develop new environmentally-safe and cost-effective methods for preventing and reducing damage. To date, we have one avicide, two repellents, several scare devices and one habitat management technique that work to manage troublesome blackbird and starling flocks.
I know you’re here because you’re looking for additional tools and techniques. And we want to work with you to identify them and transfer them to producers and municipal authorities that can put them to use.
This conference offers us all an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and build new partnerships. We’ll spend time discussing and debating the effectiveness of the tools and techniques that are now available. Then we’ll work together to find new solutions.
Thank you for joining forces with us to lend your expertise and experience in combating nuisance birds. I trust this will be a thought-provoking, productive and rewarding conference.