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Re: "Rice-birds"?



Ritch and all,

Rice birds are bobolinks. They were historically a very important pest of Low Country rice when it was grown in southeastern NC and in SC, and they still can be serious pests of mid-south (Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri) rice. In the old days, thousands were shot in efforts to protect rice crops, and then were often eaten.

Overwintering flocks are problems for South American grain growers.

Take care,

Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC
clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu

Ritch Lilly wrote:

I met a fellow yesterday at a catfish farm in Dillon County, SC (Thanks
Steve!).  I told him a was looking for birds.  He told me they often had
snipe on the property.  He then went on to explain that he would also see
several hundred "rice-birds" on the power lines each fall over a field of
sunflowers that he plants every year.  I told him I was unfamiliar with
"rice-birds".  He gave me a confused look as if to ask, "What kind of birder
are you anyway if you don't even know a "rice-bird" when you see one?".  He
said the folks around there had always called them "rice-birds".
Nevertheless, I asked him several questions about the bird he spoke of yet I
was able to get little else from him in the way of a description.  He could
tell me that the bird had "more white on it than the snipe" and that its
"bib" (bill?) was alot shorter than the snipe's.

I'm wondering if anyone on the list could enlighten me as to the true
identity of a "rice-bird".

Thanks,
Ritch Lilly
Myrtle Beach, SC
scbeachbums@hotmail.com