科学美国人60秒 SSS Falcons Patrol Fruit Fields for Pesky Invasive Birds
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：2016年Scientific American(十)月
Washington state is the country’s largest producer of cherries and blueberries. The state’s wine industry is second only to California’s in value. But one non-native, nuisance bird is wreaking 1 havoc 2.
[Sound of starling call.]
The European starling was brought to North America more than a century ago, by unwitting naturalists 3 who wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. Today, the starlings do hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage to Washington’s crops. But one man has taken it upon himself to get rid of the birds—without killing 4 them.
“We’re not terminators. Our job description would be more like security guards.”
Vahé Alaverdian, raptor wrangler 5. It’s barely 6 A.M., but he’s been out in a field of cherry trees in Yakima Valley since much earlier. He’s working with a Peregrine falcon 6.
And as long as the falcon flies over these fields, fruit-loving birds like robins 7, finches and starlings will not. Fourth-generation fruit grower Mark Roy estimates Alaverdian’s raptors save him a thousand dollars a day in otherwise lost produce.
“So, I mean it pays to come and to scare the birds away.”
Birds of prey 8 work where other traditional methods of bird abatement—like scarecrows, pyrotechnics and netting—fail. Alaverdian says even the most modern technology is no match for problem birds like starlings.
“People said ‘oh, we’re going to put you out of business. We’ve got drones, we’re going to program these drones and then we’ll fly them over blueberries.’ And then what?”
Eventually, he says, starlings get used to the drones.
“It’s just not something they’re genetically 9 programmed to avoid. It’s good for 48 hours and then you need another tool.”
Modern tools can decrease fruit damage to thirty percent, but Alaverdian says one client at a Vineyard in California has seen falconry bring that down to between five and seven percent.
It’s a tried and true taloned 10 tool, that protects even the lowest hanging fruit.
—Emily Schwing
- Coal mining is a messy business, often wreaking terrible environmental damage nearby. 采矿是肮脏的行业，往往会严重破坏周边环境。
- The floods are wreaking havoc in low-lying areas. 洪水正在地势低洼地区肆虐。
- The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
- This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。
- Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
- This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句
- Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
- Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
- When the strangled wrangler dangles the mangled spangles on the bangle jangle.被绞死的辩论者晃荡时，手镯上撕碎的小金属片发出刺耳的声音。
- A wrangler is a cowboy who works with cattle and horses.牧马者是放牧牛马的牛仔。
- The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
- The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。
- The robins occupied their former nest. 那些知更鸟占了它们的老窝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Benjamin Robins then entered the fray with articles and a book. 而后，Benjamin Robins以他的几篇专论和一本书参加争论。 来自辞典例句
- Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
- The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
- All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
- Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物