United States. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 630

Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer (1915 edition)

Whether a bird is beneficial or injurious depends almost entirely upon what it eats. In the case of species which are very abundant, or which feed to some extent on the crops of the farmer, the question of their average diet becomes one of supreme importance, and only by stomach examination can it be satisfactorily solved. Field observations are at best but fragmentary and inconclusive and lead to no final results. Birds are often accused of eating this or that product of cultivation, when an examination of the stomachs shows the accusation to be unfounded. Accordingly, the Biological Survey has conducted for some years past a systematic investigation of the food of those species which are most common about the farm and garden. Within certain limits birds eat the kind of food that is most accessible, especially when their natural food is scarce or wanting. Thus they sometimes injure the crops of the farmer who has unintentionally destroyed their natural food in his improvement of swamp or pasture. Most of the damage done by birds and complained of by farmers and fruit growers arises from this very cause. The berry-bearing shrubs and seed-bearing weeds have been cleared away, and the birds have no recourse but to attack the cultivated grain or fruit which have replaced their natural food supply. The great majority of land birds subsist upon insects during the period of nesting and moulting, and also feed their young upon them during the first few weeks. Many species live almost entirely upon insects, taking vegetable food only when other subsistence fails. It is thus evident that in the course of a year birds destroy an incalculable number of insects, and it is difficult to overestimate the value of their services in restraining the great tide of insect life. In winter, in the northern part of the country, insects become scarce or entirely disappear. Many species of birds, however, remain during the cold 2 season and are able to maintain bike by eating vegetable food, as the seeds of weeds. Here again is another useful function of birds in destroying these weed seeds and thereby lessening the growth of the next year. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 62696
Author: Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Release Date: Jul 19, 2020
Format: eBook
Language: English