Interesting question, right?
With a colleague at UD, we have demonstrated that birds are using herbivore induced plant volatiles
to locate insect prey in a corn field! These volatiles are typically emitted after the plants are damaged
by insets and have been studied a lot in plant-insect-natural enemies interactions. In our corn field,
we measured 7 times more bird peck marks on imitation clay caterpillar close to plant volatile
dispensers than on caterpillar close to control dispensers.
We have launched a crowdfunding (see the full description here
https://experiment.com/birdscansmell) project to monitor which bird species behave this way in
agricultural, forest and wetland settings.
Visit our crowdfunding project website to get more information and support our research!
https://experiment.com/birdscansmell
Please, spread the word!!!
Thanks,
Ivan
__________________________________________
Ivan Hiltpold, PhD
Assistant Professor
Agricultural Entomology
Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology
University of Delaware
261 Townsend Hall
531 South College Avenue
Newark, DE 19716
Phone: +1 302 831 3975
Email: hiltp...@udel.edu
Web: www.rhizospheric.com
