Are camouflaged seeds less attacked by wild birds?

Scientia Agricola

Alexandre De Almeida²  Hilton Thadeu Zarate Do Couto¹  Álvaro Fernando De Almeida¹ 

[1] ,UFBA IB Depto. de ZoologiaSalvador BA ,Brasil

关键词: seed camouflage;    carbofuran;    rhodamine B;    visual repellents;    bird mortality;    camuflagem de sementes;    carbofuran;    rodamina B;    repelentes visuais;    mortalidade de aves;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0103-90162010000200007

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Wheat, corn and rice crops in Brazil use seeds treated with systemic insecticide/nematicide carbofuran, mixed to rhodamine B red dye. Carbofuran is toxic and rhodamine B is attractive to wild birds that eat up these seeds, resulting in notable mortality during planting. A field experiment was performed in southeast Brazil to evaluate if camouflaged seeds would be less consumed by wild birds in comparison to commercial seeds with red-colored rhodamine B and aposematic blue seeds. Camouflaged seeds were less removed than seeds with rhodamine B and natural colors. The camouflaging was more effective in the presence of irregularities and litter. There was no removal of blue-colored seeds. As legislation requires treated seeds to receive a different color to avoid accidents with humans, camouflaging may be used as replacement of rhodamine B to reduce mortality rates of wild birds.

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