Millions of songbirds vacuumed to death every year during Mediterranean olive harvest – 2.6 million birds are sucked out of trees and killed every year in Andalusia

By Phoebe Weston
16 May 2019

(The Independent) – Millions of songbirds are vacuumed out of trees and killed each year during the nocturnal Mediterranean olive harvest, researchers have warned.

Vast numbers of legally protected birds from central and northern Europe seek refuge in the Mediterranean basin during winter months.

At night they roost in olive bushes, just as intensive harvesting machines start stripping trees of their fruit (the harvest runs from October to January).

The light of the machines dazzle and disorientate the birds, who end up being sucked into them “on a catastrophic scale”, researchers warn. There can be as many as 100 dead birds in each harvest trailer.

In Andalusia in Spain, 2.6 million birds are killed by harvesting tractors every winter. Iconic British birds like robins, greenfinches, warblers, and wagtails are among the highest causalities.

“The machinery is perfectly fine if used during the day, as birds are able to see and escape while they are operating,” lead researcher Vanessa Mata from the Portugal-based Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources told The Independent.

“However, during the night they use very strong lights which confuse the birds and lead to their death as they are ‘sucked in’ by the tractor.”

Trees are stripped at night because cooler temperatures help preserve the olives’ aromatic flavours, according to the correspondence, which is published in Nature. [more]

Millions of songbirds vacuumed to death every year during Mediterranean olive harvest