Bird damage to maize crops is an important cause of economic loss for maize growers in Italy. Consequently, the objectives of this study were to identify main species of birds attacking maize in north-eastern Italy and quantify the effects of agronomic characteristics, cultivation practices, landscape variables, and management practices on the incidence of bird damage to maize at establishment. A systematic survey of 5065 ha of maize cultivated land (Zea mays L.) at early plant stages was performed from 1986 to 2020, resulting in a dataset of 1619 records. Corvids (Corvus cornix) were found to be the main culprits of damage to maize fields. A multifactorial model was applied to assess the impact of potential risk factors. The presence of nearby roosting areas, such as hedgerows and woodlands with trees higher than 7 m, was associated with a five-fold increased risk of damage by birds. No-tillage soil management was associated with a higher risk of bird damage when compared with minimum tillage and conventional tillage systems. The probability of damage to a field with no risk factors was always low (<1%). The application of naturally derived bird repellents incorporated in seed coatings (i.e., ScudoSeed® and Eurodif®) decreased the risk of damage to maize by birds below the threshold value of 15%, yet they were slightly outperformed by their synthetic counterparts (i.e., Methiocarb and Ziram). Our results further suggest that it is possible to implement IPM principles for pest birds in maize.

鸟类对玉米作物的破坏是意大利玉米种植者经济损失的一个重要原因。因此，本研究的目的是确定意大利东北部攻击玉米的主要鸟类种类，并量化农艺特征、栽培实践、景观变量和管理实践对建立时鸟类对玉米的危害发生率的影响。从 1986 年到 2020 年，对 5065 公顷早期植物阶段的玉米耕地 ( Zea mays L.) 进行了系统调查，产生了 1619 条记录的数据集。Corvids ( Corvus Cornix) 被发现是破坏玉米田的罪魁祸首。应用多因素模型来评估潜在风险因素的影响。附近栖息地的存在，例如树木高度超过 7 m 的树篱和林地，与鸟类造成伤害的风险增加了五倍有关。与最少耕作和传统耕作系统相比，免耕土壤管理与更高的鸟类伤害风险相关。没有风险因素的场地受损的概率总是很低 (<1%)。将天然来源的驱鸟剂应用到种衣中（即 ScudoSeed® 和 Eurodif®）将鸟类对玉米造成损害的风险降低了 15% 以下，但它们的性能略优于其合成对应物（即甲硫威）和齐拉姆）。