Blackbird Control by Tom Kenville

Blackbirds, a migratory nuisance to farmers and an environmentally friendly approach to repel them.

Some 70 million blackbirds come through the Northern Plains each year, including about 6 million
that stop in North Dakota, biologists say. Each blackbird protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
can feed on about an ounce of sunflower seeds daily. The USDA estimates blackbirds feed on more
than $10 million worth of sunflowers each year in North Dakota, which accounts for about half the
nation's sunflower production.

What attracts them? Water, cattails and sunflowers, the perfect combination.

Now that we know what attracts them, how can we best repel them? What has been tried, what has
been ineffective and is there anything that works or has promise of working and is safe to the
environment? Flock Buster, a 100% ecologically friendly bird deterrent effective in repelling
blackbirds and Canadian Geese in a variety of crops and in various stages of growth. To learn more,
visit http://www.flockbuster.com.

Some of the means used in trying to repel blackbirds include Federal wildlife officials targeting
entire parcels of cattail-choked wetlands in North Dakota to kill the favorite habitat of sunflower-
scarfing blackbirds. To date, some 60,000 acres of cattail marshes in North Dakota have been
destroyed since 1991 in an attempt keep blackbirds at bay. In 2008, about 4,500 acres of wetlands in
16 counties were treated in North Dakota and 8,000 acres are planned for 2009. The favorite
chemical for this is a herbicide that at best is only effective for 5 years. WildEarth Guardians, based
in Santa Fe., N.M. alleges the Federal Agricultural Department's Wildlife Services agency is
violating the Federal Clean Water Act by applying herbicides on wetlands in North and South Dakota
to kill cattails. In April 2009, it notified the USDA that they were filing a lawsuit in Federal Court. A
spokesman of the group says it's ironic that some of the cattails sprayed with herbicide are on
government-established wetlands created using federal funds. A spokesman from the same red rose
flowers group claims "A special interest group is benefiting at the expense of taxpayers, at the
expense of our clean water and our wildlife". I would have to argue that the North Dakota Farmer is
not a special interest group. The North Dakota farmer is an important part of "American"
agriculture. In 2008, the cost of killing cattails was $166,000.00 to spray 3,700 acres of wetlands in
North Dakota and 99 acres in South Dakota. Scott McLeod, a biologist for the conservation group
Ducks Unlimited based in Bismarck, North Dakota said, "Killing cattails has minimal impact to
waterfowl, good or bad." He called the federally funded cattail-removal program a "Band-Aid
approach" to an impossible problem.

Sunflower growers have tried a variety of other control means over the years, including propane
cannons, electronic noise devises, radio-controlled airplanes and shotguns to scare birds out of
fields. The Wildlife Services also funded a program that involved seeding small "decoy plots of
sunflowers near wetlands where the blackbirds roost, hoping that it would keep them from feasting
on farmers' larger commercial fields. The difficulties with these type of deterrent means are
acoustical, visual and physical exclusion do not work well or long since birds get accustomed to
these types of means, and they become ineffective.

To date, no bird deterrents are currently registered for maturing grain, sunflower, bean or corn
crops. Flock Buster however, a 100% ecologically friendly bird deterrent, has proven effective at
repelling blackbirds in sunflowers and corn. Over the years, many chemical bird deterrents have
come and gone, partly due to lack of effectiveness, but also because of adverse health side-effects.
At present, there are no effective, food grade chemical bird repellents. The use of avicides, a
chemical used to kill birds will continue to be controversial and lack general public acceptance. A
major constraint to the development of chemical deterrents is the lack of profit incentives for private
companies that see limited markets for new bird control products. Every new wildlife damage
management method will undergo public scrutiny through the National Environmental Policy Act.

Currently a product which is totally chemical free and environmentally friendly, named "Flock
Buster", is being marketed and distributed out of West Fargo, North Dakota and has proven to be
quite successful at keeping blackbirds out of sunflowers. It is also showing some very positive
characteristics at deterring Canadian Geese and sea-gulls. For deterring blackbirds however where
wetlands or water are nearby, a blackbird control program needs to be implemented using a variety
of deterrent means with the cooperation of the grower, EPA, Wildlife Services agency and the USDA.
A several step approach without the use of chemicals to destroy wetlands, the use of chemicals as a
desiccant on sunflower fields, or poisons to kill birds needs to be implemented. This would include
an educational program and funding by the Federal Government since the birds and wetlands are
governed by them. The program's primary goal needs to be to improve profitability to agricultural
producers, enhance the health and safety of urban dwellers, protect the environment through
development of newly improved management strategies and implementing new wildlife management
strategies. We can accomplish this by:

1. The use of only non-chemical environmentally friendly products like Flock Buster applied to crops
as a deterrent method.

2. The use of small "decoy" plots of sunflowers adjacent to commercial plots of sunflowers near
wetland areas that would not be treated with any type of blackbird deterrents.

3. Manually harvesting cattail wetlands and restricting or totally eliminating the use of herbicides to
repel them.

4. The use of acoustical and visual deterrents for heavy infestations in conjunction with the non-
chemical products.

5. Public education programs about the bird difficulty for farmers and the economic costs to the
state in which these pests migrate to and why Federal dollars need to be used to assist the producer
maintain an adequate profit margin as they are such a vital link to the production of this product.

The five items listed above are only a few of the many possible tools that would augment and
enhance the effectiveness of a environmentally friendly pest management program; but whatever
program is adopted and integrated, it must focus and rely more heavily or exclusively on
environmentally friendly products and concepts. Coordinated efforts need to start early in the off
season with the producer and the Wildlife Services agency to identify the production areas, the
wetland areas that would cause a problem for the grower and the strategies of an environmentally-
friendly wildlife management program that will be implemented to assist the grower.

To learn more about Flock Buster or to visit with one of our consultants visit
http://www.flockbuster.com.