Eradication of Insect Pests by Several Species of Songbirds in a Mixed Pine/Oak Forest Near Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

Analysis of nestling food in four species of Parus and one species of Ficedula using the 'Halsringmethode' showed a high quota of adults and caterpillars of the important forest pests: Tortrix viridana, Euproctis chrysorrhoea, Diprion pini, and Lymantria dispar . These four major pest species amounted in the nestling food of Parus major to 50 %, P. coeruleus to 52.6 %, P. ater to 40.9 %, and Ficedula hypoleuca to 30.2 %.