Rice birds

Many birds such as sparrows, blackbirds, rice birds, grackles, and cowbirds can cause heavy loss of grain in rice fields. Because the use of poisoned baits in some countries is often restricted by law or popular opinion, the information presented does not constitute a recommendation on any specific chemical. The use of strychnine-poisoned rough rice (17, 18, 25) against blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and English sparrows, wherever the use of poison is permitted, can be effective. Many other toxic chemicals will kill these birds however, domestic poultry and game bird species are relatively much less susceptible to strychnine than to other toxic materials. Therefore, we have in strychnine a fairly effective selectivity which other toxic materials do not offer. 

Van Veen (1938) employed pigeons, monkeys, and rice birds to follow the active principles of kava in his isolation procedure. Preliminary results indicated that rice birds were overly sensitive to the crude extracts and monkeys too resistant. Pigeons were thereafter used for routine assays. Eight to 15 minutes after administration of the extract, the pigeons became sleepy and ataxic a deep sleep then set in lasting from 2 to... 

Protective methods, based on the prevention of polyneuritis. They were generally carried out with birds (fowls, pigeons, rice birds), because these animals develop characteristic symptoms of polyneuritis in several weeks on a simple diet of washed polished rice and water, before other disturbances appear on this multiple-deficient diet. By adding the material under assay to the basal diet at different levels, the minimum protective amount is determined. 

Dr. Eijkman then began a series of experiments that led to the first clear concept of disease due to nutritional deficiency. He fed polished white rice to chickens, pigeons, and ducks. They developed the paralysis that he had observed previously, then recovered when he fed them natural (unmilled) rice. Birds fed whole rice remained well. 

Flickinger, E.L., C.A. Mitchell, D.H. White, and E.J. Kolbe. 1986. Bird poisoning from misuse of the carbamate furadan in a Texas rice field. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 14 59-62.FMC. 1979. Technical Bulletin, Furadan. FMC Corp., Middleport, NY. 4 pp. 

Spraying of PCP to control populations of water snails in rice fields of Surinam resulted in the death of fish and birds, including snail kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis), certain egrets and herons, and wattled jacanas (Jacana jacana). Levels of PCP in these birds and their food items suggested that PCP-contaminated food probably caused the deaths (Vermeer et al. 1974) (Table 23.5). 

Vermeer, K., R.W. Risebrough, A.L. Spaans, and L.M. Reynolds. 1974. Pesticide effects on fishes and birds in rice fields of Surinam, South America. Environ. Pollut. 7 217-236. 

Hoffman, D.J., C.P. Rice, and T.J. Kubiak. 1996a. PCBs and dioxins in birds. Pages 165-207 in W.N. Beyer, G.H. Heinz, and A. Redmon-Norwood (eds.). Environmental Contaminants in Wildlife Interpreting Tissue Concentrations. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 

Casimir Funk had come from Poland to the Lister Institute in London, England to investigate the chemical nature of the substance in rice-polishings (rice bran) that cured or prevented polyneuritis in birds, a disease closely related to beri-beri in humans. His research in this subject coupled with his awareness of what were becoming known as diet-related diseases, the deficiency diseases, led to his review article of 1912 in which he coined the term, vitamine. Vitamine, to Funk, was actually a variety of chemical substances, organic amines, that acted selective-... 

Certain birds, mammals, and crustaceans must be classified as rice pests. In California the tadpole shrimp (Apus oryzaphagus) (29) may damage rice. The shrimp not only attack the young rice plants but keep the water in a muddy condition, which results in poor rice growth. Promising control results were obtained in the laboratory with copper sulfate and DDT, and in the field with copper sulfate. 

Although chemicals are now used extensively in the control of rice pests, the demand for chemicals in this field is expected to be much greater in the future. Many chemicals now available have not been tested in countries where severe losses occur. In the developmental field, more satisfactory herbicides are needed for the control of broad-leaf weeds and grasses, better fungicides are needed to supplement breeding work for the control of foliar rice diseases more effective seed-treatment chemicals are needed for rice sown in water and satisfactory chemical repellants are needed to prevent losses from bird pests on maturing rice. 

Toxicity of 2,4-D to animals and nontarget plant species is far less clear-cut. It is slightly toxic to wildfowl (e.g., quail and mallard ducks) and moderately toxic to some other bird species. The toxicity of the chemical to aquatic life varies both by chemical formulation and by animal species, though it is clearly toxic to many species, including stream trout, earthworms, and beneficial insects. 2,4-D has been shown to cause genetic damage in crops including barley, wheat, rice, and onions and can also increase the severity of some plant diseases. ... 

Unripe fruits of many plants contain compounds such as quinines that impart an aversive taste and discourage fruit eaters from consuming them before they are ripe and their seeds are mature and ready for dispersal. Unripe fruit of some Rhamnus species contain emodin, an anthraquinone that deters birds and mammals from feeding. Anthraquinone reduced red-winged blackbird feeding on rice by 84%, and 71% in boat-tailed grackles (Avery etal, 1997). 

Avery, M. L., Decker, D. G., Humphrey, . S., etal. (1995). Methyl anthranilate as a rice seed treatment to deter birds. Journal of Wildlife Management 59,50-56. 

Rice, R. and Ward, J, 1996. Coffee, Conservation and Commerce in the Western Hemisphere. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and Natural Resources Defence Council, Washington DC. 

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