MEDFORD MAIL. TMBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
Small
Worlds
Around
Us
Lynn W.
Watkint
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Birds May Eat 20,000
Bushels of Bugs A Day
How many bugs to a bushel?
Or, how many birds in a coun
ty? Two very important ques
tions that should be answered
if scientists and fruit and veg
etable growers want to know
what they are up against in
man's constant battle against
the insects.
So, someone took the time,
overcame his natural revulsion
and counted the number of
average sized bugs necessary
to fill a bushel basket. One
hundred and twenty thousand,
give or take a few dozen, aver
age sized bugs did the trick.
Somebody else peered cal
lously into the crops and
stomachs of birds to find out
what kind of bugs, and how
many, were there. Finding out
how many a bird ate in a sin
gle day was the next and rela
tively easy step; average size
bird, about 100 bugs a day.
To count the birds, of a cer
tain species, in a county seemed
like a hopeless task. It appear
ed even more complicated than
the system the man used that
counted the number of legs
in a herd of cattle and then
simply divided by four.
Birds Per Acre
. The bird count proved even
easier. It was only necessary to
count the birds normally found
on one acre of ground. Know
the number of acres in the
county and take a minute with
a pencil and paper and there
you are.
By means of this "yard
stick", we can pretty accurately
place tour insect eating birds
of one species to an acre. The
bright, red cardinal, an insect
eater, was a typical example.
By this formula, an average
sized county would have about
30,000 birds.
Should the insects increase
in numbers, which does happen
each year, birds from neighbor
ing regions would hear about
it and move in for the duration
of the bug-harvest. These mi
grant "bug - pickers" would
naturally "go home" as soon
as food scarcity began to be
evident and the bird population
would regain its normal level.
Cuts Insect Count
Now, taking the cardinals
again as an example, which
we estimated would average
four birds to the acre, each eat
100 bugs a day together with
thousands of insect eggs and
probably a few stray insects
that they run across in a day's
time. This makes a deep dent
in the insect population.
During the nesting season,
when feeding young, the bug
intake is stepped up to about
150 bugs per day.
It is pretty conservatively
estimated that the birds in a
stale of average size will eat
about 20,000 bushels of bugs a
day for at least five months
of the year. During the remain
der of the year, that is the
colder months in the northern
states, the overall volume will
be about half the summer in
take. In states of the deep south,
where insect life is extended,
the amount eaten by birds, al
most the vear around, must be
fantastically large; better
measured by tons rather than
bushels.
AnDlving the . "bugs and
birds" formula, it would be
safe to say that the cardinals
alone, in a medium sized state,
would require 52,000,000 bugs
a day to keep their metabolism
up to noraml standards; and
this in addition to countless in
sect eggs.
Besides the cardinals, there
are other insectivorous birds
scurrying around after "the
crawling multitude." And the
birds do all this pest control
"for free."
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 19M
Nuclear-Powered Sub
Launched at Groton
GROTON, Conn. tUPI) - The
nuclear - powered Polaris mis
sile submarine Ulysses S.
Grant, described as the nation's
"most significant weapon," was
launched Saturday at ceremon
ies at Electric Boat shipyards.
The sub, capable of firing the
2,500 mile missiles, was chris
tened by Mrs. David W. Grif
fith, of Arlington, Va., great
granddaughter of the former
President for which the craft
was named.
Mississippi Files
Suit Against Post
BIRMINGHAM, Ala (UPI) -Mississippi's
public safety com
missioner has filed a $1 million
libel suit against the Saturday
Evening Post, claiming the Post
defamed the Mississippi High
way Patrol.
Col. T. B. Birdsong, head of
the patrol, based the suit on a
story, "What Next in Mississip
pi?". He said it was published
"with intent to detame me pa
trolmen's action in the Univer
sity of Mississippi Integration
crisis.
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