Damage to Soybean Caused by Rufous Turtle Dove, Streptopelia Orientalis and Feral Pigeon, Columba Lima var. Domestica and Their Food Habit in Hokkaido

Abstract

Damage to soybean caused by doves and pigeons was estimated to affect approximately 5% of cultivated acreage in Hokkaido from 1975 to 1977. There was a negative correlation between the acreage cultivated to soybean and the percentage of plants damaged (γ= -0.256, n = 9l). This damage was mainly caused by Rufous Turtle Dove. The main food of Rufous Turtle Dove and Feral Pigeon consisted of vegetables whose fragments were detected in all the gullets and gizzards examined. Crops on which Rufous Turtle Dove fed included soybean (24. 1 %), adzuki bean (23.1%), corn (9.4%), rice (8.9%), buckwheat (7.1%), wheat (5.3%) and oat (0. 5%) and accounted for 78. 4% of the bird's food in fresh weight. Crop fragments accounted for 79. 8% of the gullet and gizzard contents of Feral Pigeon and consisted of adzuki bean (38.7%), soybean (29.4%), rice (7.2%), wheat (5.8%), corn (1.3%) and oat (0.1%) fragments, respectively. Of these crops, wheat is likely to become a more important source of food for Rufous Turtle Dove owing to the recent increase of acreage and availability period from July to September. © 1984, JAPANESE SOCIETY OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY. All rights reserved.