Not all pests crawl on the ground; some pests can fly as well! Insects and bugs are buzzing pests that we are too familiar with. Birds are common pests that inhabit the sky. These flying pests can be a real nuisance to farms and those that work in agricultural fields.
While many people enjoy beautiful melodies from songbirds, other birds are more troublesome. Birds like pigeons, house sparrows, and European starlings are pests. These birds are not originally from North America. They also don't have many natural predators.
Why are birds pests? When there is a large population of birds, they can affect human health and safety. Birds can carry and spread avian diseases sporadically. Not only do bird droppings deface structures, statues, and buildings, the droppings can also cause rapid decay. Their nests can also block pipes and prevent essential functions. Birds' nests will attract other pests like gnats.
If you live in a city in North America, chances are you've encountered pigeons. Sometimes they're called feral pigeons or city pigeons. These pigeons were bred from rock doves, which live near sea-cliffs and mountains. Their identification is simple. Pigeons are usually gray with two black stripes on the wings. They also have red feet. Pigeons will eat grains and human food. They've become dependent on humans for both food and shelter.
House sparrows will eat many different kinds of foods, like grains, vegetables, fruits, flowers, and garbage. Many people think their incessant sharp chirping sounds are a nuisance. These birds can be quite aggressive. If you have house sparrows in your garden, then they can damage your plants and flowers. They will also force songbirds to leave the area.
The European starling has many similar qualities to the pigeons and house sparrows. It also eats a lot of what humans have left behind or disposed of in the trash. Starlings are known to be implicated in airplane crashes, which are caused when the bird hits the aircraft.
Vultures are known to be extremely effective scavengers. They usually do not attack live animals, unless they are injured or sick. They have excellent senses of sight and smell and can detect a carcass that has recently died from miles away. Vultures are one of the only birds that do not build nests. Instead, they lay their eggs on rocky cliffs.
Vultures are bald so that they can burrow deep into carcasses as they feed, without getting germs and infections on their feathers. If there is a lot of food around, vultures will gorge themselves. The vulture's main form of defence is to projectile vomit up to 3m away! When a vulture feels threatened, it will regurgitate the food in its stomach to distract and frighten predators. This also allows the vulture to lose weight so that it can fly away more quickly!
Bats are the only mammals in the world that are capable of flight. There are over 1,000 different species of bats in the world. Three of these species are types of vampire bats that feed solely on blood! Most bats use echolocation to find their way around in the dark. This is when bats send out sonar waves to figure out what shapes are ahead of them. When the sonar waves hit something, they will bounce back and the bat will be able to know what is ahead.
Even though bats have a bad reputation as disease carrying pests, they can also help us. Some bats are insectivores, and they can eat the bugs and insects that damage crops. Bats disperse seeds and pollinate many plants. It seems like bats are truly farmers' best friends! But the destruction of their habitats leaves little space for bats to live, roost, and hunt.