Abstract

The Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula has presented problems for fruit growers in Britain since at least the sixteenth century. By feeding on the blossom buds of fruit trees, it can greatly reduce the subsequent fruit crop. The species became especially abundant in southern Britain during the 1950–70s, creating a major problem for commercial fruit growers. Killing the birds proved to be the only viable way to reduce the damage. This paper gives, for the first time, details of the numbers of Bullfinches killed on particular farms in Britain during the 1960s, and examines the sex and age ratios of the birds involved. Extrapolation from the figures gained from these farms shows that the total number of Bullfinches killed each year in Britain could have exceeded 800,000. Most of the birds killed were in their first year of life, and males predominated over females. The findings throw light on various aspects of Bullfinch biology.IntroductionThe Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula has long been regarded as a pest in orchards, stripping the fruit buds from trees and thereby reducing the crop. It was listed as a pest as long ago as the sixteenth century and, during various periods, bounties were paid for the killing of birds in major fruit-growing areas (Roach 1962; Lovegrove 2007). From the 1950s to the 1970s, Bullfinches in southern Britain occurred in exceptional abundance and caused serious and extensive damage in commercial orchards. Most stands of plums and pears, and some stands of apples, suffered damage every year and, in some cases, whole orchards were almost totally denuded of buds by Bullfinches (Newton 1964). At that time, the Bullfinch was judged to be the most serious economic threat to fruit growing in Britain. Various scaring devices were trialled, as were deterrent chemicals that were sprayed onto the trees, but none proved effective for more than a few days at a time. The only cost-effective method of reducing damage was by killing the birds themselves, in an attempt to reduce the local population.