Farmers worry about too many birds

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Neil Fitzgerald
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Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Wed Nov 08, 2017 12:03 pm

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/ ... tive-birds

Native species already cause problems for some farmers. Always have. May get worse, but I think this is a bit overblown.
Some farmers seem to be determined to create a divide between them and the rest of society. This item shows some lack of understanding too. Their theory is that native birds originally declined because of habitat loss, and are now becoming more abundant than ever because of predator control :?
flossiepip
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Re: Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby flossiepip » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:15 pm

Just sat on the veranda drinking tea and counting the Kaka and Kakariki as they flew past, the count got up to zero!
andrewcrossland
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Re: Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby andrewcrossland » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:43 pm

We were having a smoko room conversation about the parakeet plagues of the 1870s only yesterday. A food shortage in the forests and an irruption of parakeets in orchards and gardens. Lots of shooting and poison later and the problem was eliminated.............
Amazing how mindsets remain the same and history can potentially repeat....
Jim_j
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Re: Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby Jim_j » Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:45 pm

I think it's fair to raise the issue - but from a farmers point of view I would have thought it was well down on the list of environmental issues they will need to contend with.
A pity there was not more rural voices raised when the science behind climate change became obvious in the 80s & 90s.
By the time native birds are in numbers large enough to cause significant crop damage I suspect it will be the least of their worries.

cheers
jim
Jake
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Re: Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby Jake » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:47 am

I tend to agree with everything being said here and think that with limited suitable breeding grounds (native forests), our parrots and parakeets will not be the issue ie they still have to compete for breeding sites. Are there any records of (native) parrots breeding well in exotic plantations? In my opinion we will see blackbird/starling/silvereye numbers get a bump if rats get extensive control and these will be the problem birds for fruit production. Talking to a viticulturist who has cockatoos and rosellas present; he's told me that there are no noticeable damages or yield losses so I'm not convinced
DoyleNe
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Re: Farmers worry about too many birds

Postby DoyleNe » Mon Nov 20, 2017 10:27 pm

Neil Fitzgerald wrote:http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/343311/are-there-too-many-native-birds

Native species already cause problems for some farmers. Always have. May get worse, but I think this is a bit overblown.
Some farmers seem to be determined to create a divide between them and the rest of society. This item shows some lack of understanding too. Their theory is that native birds originally declined because of habitat loss, and are now becoming more abundant than ever because of predator control :?


Their explanation doesn't really hold water, but I'm no expert.
I think everyone should try Viasil at least once.

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