Laboratory Efficacy of Chemical Repellents for Reducing Blackbird Damage in Rice and Sunflower Crops
2010
Werner, Scott J. | Linz, George M. | Tupper, Shelagh K. | Carlson, James C.
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 repellent) as candidate blackbird repellents. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) preferred untreated rice relative to rice treated with Thiram (P < 0.001) and Vitavax (P < 0.001), and untreated sunflower relative to sunflower treated with Cobalt (P < 0.001). Blackbirds preferred untreated sunflower relative to sunflower treated with Flock Buster repellent on day 1 of a 4-day preference test (P < 0.001). We observed no difference in consumption of treated versus untreated rice during the Allegiance preference test (P == 0.928), and blackbirds preferred rice treated with Trilex relative to untreated rice (P == 0.003). Although repellency was positively related to tested concentrations of Thiram (P == 0.010), Trilex (P == 0.026), and Vitavax (P < 0.001), maximum repellency was <50%% during our concentration-response tests of these seed treatments. Repellency was also positively related to tested concentrations of Cobalt (P < 0.001), and we observed >80%% repellency of sunflower treated with Cobalt at ≥≥50%% of the label rate. We observed no concentration-response relationship for the Allegiance seed treatment (P == 0.341) and Flock Buster repellent (P == 0.952). We recommend implementation of supplemental field studies to compare laboratory efficacy, repellency, and chemical residues of effective avian repellents throughout periods of needed crop protection.
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