Bird and Flying-Fox Bat Damage to Orchard Fruit: A Guide
Damage by lorikeets and rosellas | Non-parrot bird damage | Flying-fox bat damage
Apples partly eaten by Flying-foxes
Photo: Ian Temby
This booklet is also presented in pdf format. If you do not have the Acrobat PDF viewer you can download a free copy from the Adobe website.
Bird and Flying-Fox Bat Damage to Orchard Fruit: A Guide (PDF - 245 Kb)What is the guide?
This guide is designed to help you identify:
- what animal or bird is damaging your fruit
- what to do about it
The guide was developed as part of a Flying-fox management strategy that included the relocation of flying-foxes from the Melbourne Royal Botanical Gardens to an alternative camp site at Yarra Bend Park.
A range of animals may cause damage to developing or ripening stone and pome fruits.
These include:
- parrots
- lorikeets
- honeyeaters
- other birds
- the Grey-headed Flying-fox
- possums
- rats
Each animal attacks fruit in a particular way so it is possible to identify what has caused the damage if you know what to look for.
Why is this guide helpful?
If you know what animal is causing the damage, you can reduce their negative impacts. It is ineffectual patrolling at night for Flying-foxes (or shooting them) if the damage is being caused during the day by birds. Sometimes you may have more than one kind of animal causing damage.
How much damage?
The first step before starting to scare or shoot animals in your orchard, is to estimate the:
- amount
- location
- cause of damage
This will determine whether you need to take any action. Sometimes, damage is restricted to one or two rows of trees and it may be better to accept losses in that part in order to protect the rest of the orchard.
Scaring animals from those rows already damaged may cause them to land elsewhere in the orchard and spread the damage, perhaps to more valuable fruit varieties.
How to use the guide
Images of typical kinds of damage in this guide will help you to identify the animal causing the damage to your fruit. It is always useful to notice the birds in and near your orchard in order that you are aware of potential crop feeders that are present. The presence of these birds does not necessarily mean that damage will occur, as the birds may be using other food in the area.
Minimising damage
Methods to assist with minimising damage caused by wildlife to your crops range from non-lethal scaring and exclusion (netting) to limited destruction of wildlife under an DPI/DSE permit. Many kinds of birds may be encouraged to feed elsewhere by persistent scaring, aided by techniques such as lethal shooting (with permit only), to emphasise that there is real danger associated with the scaring activities.
An effective scaring program may include use of scare guns (gas guns), scarecrows, patrolling and taped alarm or distress calls. Species such as lorikeets and Flying-foxes appear to be undeterred by the use of these techniques and effective damage control may require the installation of nets. All native mammals and birds are protected and must not be harmed without obtaining an Authority to Control Wildlife. Applications may be obtained from DPI/DSE’s Customer Service Centre on 136 186.
For further information
If you would like further information on Flying-foxes, on the alternative camp site project at Yarra Bend Park, on problems caused by Flying-foxes or birds in orchards, check this website or contact the Customer Service Centre on 136 186 for information and assistance.
Page Top