Estimating the Damage of Birds to Wheat, Gurma Melon and Cowpea Crops During the Ripening Period at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Salama, M.A., M.I. Aamir, A.A. Gh. Farag, M.A. Issa and M.A. Hendawy. 2024. Estimating the Damage of Birds to Wheat, Gurma Melon and Cowpea Crops During the Ripening Period at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 42(4): 552-557. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001281 The damage caused by birds to wheat crop is increasing during the ripening stage. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus niloticus is the main bird pest that attacks wheat spikes during the ripening stage (milk, dough, and mature levels) during 2020 and 2021 seasons. The 6th week of the ripening period suffered the highest damage in all samples compared with other weeks. The samples collected from the field edge showed the highest damage, with 13.05 and 6.75% yield loss during 2020 and 2021, respectively. The samples collected at 6 m from borders didn't show any damage. The statistical analysis indicated that there were significant differences between the tested distances in all weeks of the repining stage during 2020 and 2021 seasons. The gurma melon fruits were attacked by hooded crow, Corvus corone during the ripening stage and the mean proportion of damaged fruits reached 9.47% at the 6th week of fruit development. The special features of the gurma melon plants made it easy for hooded crows to land and take off, thus the birds attacked the crop at any point in the field, thus there was no significant difference between the fruit damage level and distance from the field border. Cowpea was an attractive crop for many bird species such as pigeons and house sparrows. Birds did attack the cowpea pods during the ripening stage, with 6.97% damage during this stage. Keywords: Damage, birds, house sparrow, hooded crow, wheat, gurma melon, cowpea.