Book Description

The Problems of Birds as Pests covers the proceedings of the symposium held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 28 and 29 September 1967. The text focuses on the problems posed by birds on agriculture and air transport, as well as control of population, scaring techniques, and warning systems. The selection first discusses prospective considerations concerning bio-acoustics in relation to bird-scaring techniques and recent developments in bird scaring on airfields. Topics include system of behavior and hierarchy of signals, informative content of acoustic signals, and signal-noise ratio. The book also ponders on bird recognition by radar and bird warning system for aircrafts in flight. The publication reviews the rook issue in North-East Scotland and the problems brought by the oystercatchers, including availability of field crops and their utilization by rooks, rook population, and food intake of the birds and comparison with stock and fishing levels. The manuscript then surveys predator-prey relationships in bird damage and population control and the quelea problem in Africa. The selection is a valuable source of information for ornithologists and readers interested in the characteristic of birds as pests.