Hungry birds are a major threat for sunflower seedlings in France

Abstract A successful crop establishment is crucial for sunflower yield. French farmers consider bird damage as an important issue affecting the sunflower establishment. We assessed, through field investigations, the frequency and severity of bird damage symptoms at sunflower emergence. The investigations were carried out across four situations (region x year). The density of viable seedlings at the field level did not meet the thresholds recommended by advisory services, with median values below or above agronomic standards in 3 out of 4 cases. Post-emergence losses at the field level, based on plants with symptoms attributable to wood pigeons (Columba palumbus), followed a log-normal like distribution. Overall, 98% of the fields showed seedlings with symptoms attributable to birds while 9.7% of the field had >20% of seedlings destruction. The spatial and temporal variations of the damage remain to be analysed, to determine if the processes behind the observed patterns can be controlled by individual farmers.