Every year, thousands of tons of wheat, millet and sorghum is lost as a result of millions of finches devouring crops of both commercial and subsistence farmers. It is estimated that there are 1.5 billion of these birds in southern Africa alone, and flocks ranging from 1 million to 5 million have been recorded. A flock of 5 million can consume 50 tons of grain a day. (Source)

Farmers in the Standerton area have taken the war to the birds, attacking them where they sleep at night. Farmers are fire bombing the trees and thickets they rest in at night, according to the Standerton Advertiser.

Nightly explosions ripple through farmland as farmers take on these feathered pests…

See the Standerton Advertiser for the full story