Fruit trees as food indicators to some avian pests in an agro-ecosystem in Faisalabad.
Muhammad Saleem, Khan H. A., Gulnaz Afzal, Aisha Saleem
Author Affiliation: Department of Zoology and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Indus Journal of Biological Sciences 2 : 332-339
Abstract : Studies on fruit trees from January to July 2004 in relation to 4 bird pests, i.e. rose-ringed parakeet [?Psittacula krameri], house crow [Corvus splendens], house sparrow [?Passer domesticus] and starling [Sturnus sp.], in an agro-ecosystem in Faisalabad (Pakistan) showed that in the morning, the rose-ringed parakeet population on guava was 36±2.57 in January and 34±1.74 in February; on citrus 54±1.82 in February and 23±1.08 in March; on dates 2±0.18 in May and 11±0.43 in June; on mango 30±1.35 in June and 48±2.55 in July. In the afternoon, the depredations on the same crops were 70±1.45, 73±3.14, 94±4.47, 103±5.19, 10±0.61, 10±0.48, 61±2.51 and 65±3.60. On the same fruit crops, infestations by house crow in the morning hours were 25±1.43, 46±1.59, 27±1.01, 28±1.50, 3±0.20, 2±0.28, 8±0.50 and 8±0.65. Observations in the afternoon showed 42±1.81, 72±2.30, 84±4.02, 44±2.70, 5±0.42, 10±0.65, 57±2.30 and 53±0.43. Damage to fruit trees by house sparrow showed, in the morning, 31±1.45, 57±2.44, 23±1.04, 55±1.30, 6±0.26, 7±0.29, 27±1.40 and 48±2.04, whereas, in the afternoon, 50±2.27, 54±1.74, 45±2.05, 64±1.67, 4±0.20, 7±0.90, 11±1.28 and 23±0.48. Observations on starling in the morning hours of foraging depicted 1±0.14, 10±0.52, 7±0.70, 16±0.80, 0, 0, 5±0.57 and 1±0.14; and in the afternoon hours 3±0.20, 9±0.47, 20±1.48, 22±1.48, 0, 0, 5 and 8±0.47, respectively. It was concluded that rose-ringed parakeet and house crow seemed more tenacious than house sparrow and starling. The suitable fruit trees grown closer to the bird roosts provided ample cover and food to enhance the breeding niches.