Aliases

Feathered friends, robins, chickadees, starlings, gulls

Beneficial Features

Birds are the C.I.A. of insect detective work. Since birds are very intelligent, scraping up evidence, probing the surfac and locating pests is as easy as booking a pickpocket. Birds can remember when and where they last captured scoundrels, such as crane flies, and will return there frequently to make another bust.

Recruitment

• These feathered forces have big appetites, so set up a fast-food seed shop, a.k.a. birdfeeder, where they can get some grub when they’re not on the scene of a crime.
• Appealing real estate like trees and bushes will keep birds working for your division. Add special attractions for your beaked community like birdbaths and bells on cats to make birds’ lives more enjoyable.
• Although birds are outstanding insect detectives, they are terrible pesticide detectives. Crane fly larvae poisoned with pesticide often wriggle to the lawn’s surface and birds gobble them up because they don’t detect any poison. Many pesticides registered for weeds and insects are poisonous to birds and other wildlife too. So try not to use these on your property.

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