FEED LOSSES TO EUROPEAN TREE SPARROWS (PASSER MONTANUS) AT DUCK FARMS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Authors

Justiniano L. Libay, National Crop Protection Center, University of the Philippines at Los Banos
Lynwood A. Fiedler, National Crop Protection Center, University of the Philippines at Los Banos
Richard L. Bruggers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver Wildlife Research Center

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

10-1983

Citation

Proceedings Ninth Bird Control Seminar, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, October 4-6, 1983. Ed. William B. Jackson and Beth Jackson Dodd

Comments

Copyright (c) 1983 Justiniano L. Libay, Lynwood A. Fiedler and Richard L. Bruggers

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the duck farm industry in the Philippines and to report preliminary findings on the problem posed by pest birds to individual farmers. The concerns of several farmers about the amounts of duck feed being eaten by Europen tree sparrows (Passer montanus) prompted this study. Wright (1973) reported that starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) caused an annual loss of about 1,000 tons of food pellets at one duck farm in Great Britain. This is one of the few references describing this type of bird pest situation of which we are aware. Although we have not yet resolved this unusual problem, we report here our findings to date and, perhaps, obtain from this forum some ideas for further work.