Lesson 7 – Co-existing with and Supporting Beneficial Birds and Bats
Presentation Recording
Will be posted here following the webinar!
Presenters
Dr. Austin Spence is an ecologist at UC Davis who has worked with birds across California. He completed his graduate work at the University of Connecticut studying the ecology of hummingbirds in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He is now a postdoctoral scholar with Daniel Karp in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis investigating the connection between bird communities and food safety. His goal is to provide a more holistic understanding of the role birds play in agriculture and human health.
Rachel Long, UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Emeritus, is a native of Berkeley and the daughter of a UC Berkeley biology professor. She received her bachelor's degree in biology from UC Berkeley. In 1992 she accepted a position as a pest management, low input systems UCCE adviser for Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties. When Rachael started her projects 27 years ago, her ideas were considered “way outside the box and on the fringe,” she recalled. Now her work is mainstream with the UC Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) guidelines incorporating the value of habitat planting for enhancing natural enemies and pollinators on farms for better pollination and biocontrol of crop pests.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this lesson, learners will be able to:
- Explain the low risks associated with most birds that provide pest control services and which birds have a little higher risk.
- Share what growers should do if they find bird feces in their fields, and why they can still support avian pest control with nest boxes and habitat.
- Describe how bats provide pest control.
- Share how to support bats on farms.
Articles & Resources
- Are we overestimating risk of enteric pathogen spillover from wild birds to humans? by Smith et al, 2020
- Avian Conservation Practices Strengthen Ecosystem Services in California Vineyards by Jedlicka et al, 2011
WFA Videos