Starling
Wouldn’t it be nice if fruit growers could quietly sweep away their bird problems? Lake Country cherry grower Coral Beach Farms is doing just that, using a laser machine from the Netherlands.
The Agrilaser Autonomic from Bird Control Group sweeps a laser beam across a vineyard or orchard. Birds see the laser as a physical threat and keep their distance, even though it would not harm them.
“We had great success the first year,” says Gayle Krahn, Horticulture Manager at Coral Beach. “The lasers do seem to be effective on starlings, as we have not had a starling problem.”
The $8,000 US machines are easy to set up, says Krahn. “It’s just a matter of mounting the lasers on a stand,” she says. “Our first two machines needed direct power, but we learned our lesson and ordered the solar panel kits for the next three units.”
“The solar panels allow us to place the units in the most suitable location,” Krahn adds. With a 2,500 meter range, the laser beam is set to pan just over the orchard canopy and can cover as much as 90 acres.
“You need to go out with a laptop to program the Agrilaser to suit the orchard,” says Krahn. “You can set up three different programs which allows you to change the pattern and timing to confuse the birds.” She says staff are hoping to go out every 10 to 14 days this year to change the patterns more frequently.
Harassment from the larger and more intelligent crows and magpies seems to vary with the numbers of birds in the area, Krahn explains.
“The first year crows refused to enter the orchard, they sat on the posts outside the lasers,” she says. “But the second year we had a lot of bird pressure and I think they managed to follow the magpies in, who don’t seem to be affected by the lasers.”
“I think in years of high bird pressure we will always need to double up our control with squawkers,” says Krahn. “If it is a low pressure year, I hope the lasers alone will be sufficient.”
