How to Get Rid of Jackdaws – Farm Achieves 100% Bird Reduction

Fruit Company Tack-De Cauwer, a high-end fruit grower, effectively utilizes the Autonomic lasers as a bird control method. Read the case study to learn how to get rid of jackdaws with lasers.

Location:	Fruit company Tack-De Cauwer, Belgium
Application context:	Orchard (Food production > Vineyard & Orchard)
Problem definition:	Jackdaw peck damage
Pest bird species:	Jackdaws(Corvidae)
Time of year bird presence:	June to September
Bird behaviour:	Foraging
Consequence:	Yield losses
Number of bird repellent systems:	1 x Agrilaser Autonomic 100
Laser projection area:	8 acres
In use since:	June 2016
Yearly probability of happening without autonomic:	100%
Yearly probability of happening with autonomic:	0%

Situation before:
They tried everything: ribbons, balloons, and cannons.
But nothing seemed to scare away the flocks of jackdaw that were scourging the fruit farm. After receiving a suggestion from a colleague, they came in contact with Bird Control Group.

Situation after:
The Agrilaser Autonomic was active for one season from June to September 2016. Within weeks they noticed the difference between the area with an Agrilaser Autonomic and the areas without one. At the end of the harvest they had no crop loss at the area which the Autonomic was protecting.

Bird repellent: 100% reduction in birds

Fruit Company Tack-De Cauwer is a high-end fruit grower and supplier for high quality supermarkets like Albert Heijn. They grow apples and pears on 8 acres of land spread out through Belgium. They experienced a lot of pecking damages from jackdaws the last couple of years. After receiving a tip from a colleague, they came in contact with Bird Control Group and bought the Agrilaser Autonomic. 

The jackdaw, likes to peck in juicy fruits especially during dry months. On one part of the orchard the bird problem was out of control with flocks of birds flying in and out. Landing on the trees, eating the fruit and spreading rot amongst the fruit.

A group decision
The fruit farm used a variety of tools in order to get rid of the birds; ribbons, balloons, cannons. But none of them were effective enough to get rid of the birds. The villagers in the neighborhood of the farm were no big fans of the loud noise that the cannons made. Laurens Tack, fruit grower: “It was set on the fastest interval to make the most of the machine.

After a meeting with the people in the area we got the tip for the Agrilaser. We looked into it and bought it together with some neighbors.”

Independent tool
The results were immediately visible after the Agrilaser Autonomic was installed. “We don’t live nearby the orchard the laser stands on, so we visit that area once a week or so.” Therefore it was ideal, or even necessary, for the fruit farm that the machine works independently. “We quickly noticed the bird activity difference between the pieces of land with and without the Agrilaser. There were flocks of jackdaw in the area, but they probably went somewhere else.” The farm buried a 200-meter long power line through one of their fields that does not have to be grubbed for the next 50 years. That way they could save on the costs of a solar power add-on. “But it’s great to have the opportunity to have the choice in power source.”