Seed and Color Preferences of Wild Carrion Crows From Cafeteria Experiments.

ABSTRACT: Birds can cause significant damage to agricultural fields, notably in Europe, where corvid species like carrion crows (Corvus corone) and rooks (Corvus frugilegus) target spring crops, posing challenges for conservation and wildlife management. Among targeted crops, sunflower and maize suffer the highest levels of damage from corvids' foraging. While both lethal and non-lethal strategies are employed to mitigate bird damage, their effectiveness is limited and context-dependent. Consequently, there is growing interest in identifying natural bird repellents. To improve our understanding of corvid food selection and explore potential non-lethal management strategies, we conducted (1) cafeteria trials with five common seed types (maize, sunflower, soy, pea, and wheat) and (2) two

SUBMITTER: Chantoufi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11799056 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature