Pole-bound Hawk-kites Failed to Protect Maturing Cornfields from Blackbird Damage

This study examined the ability of pole-bound hawk-kites to protect maturing fields of corn from blackbird damage. Hawk-kites were placed over half of each experimental field. Damage on the hawk-kite side was slightly, but not significantly, less than on the unprotected side as measured by the percent of ears damaged by birds, total amount of grain lost to birds, or percent of crop damaged by birds. Bird damage on the hawk-kite side of the experimental fields also did not differ significantly from nearby control fields. Four different types of hawk-kites, which differed in size, design, and in the raptor species printed on them, were used in this study. None of them differed significantly in their ability to reduce bird damage. All of the pole-bound hawk-kites also required considerable labor to keep them in repair. Consequently, their use was not found to be cost-effective in these experiments.