Pesticides are killing off America’s birds

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A study published in the online journal PLOS ONE finds that the use of pesticides is the leading cause of a decline in grassland bird species in North America. From the Twin Cities Pioneer Press outdoors blog:

The loss of habitat is real in the corn belt, as are its potential effects on a host of grassland bird species, some hunted, some not.

But a new study concludes that declines of such birds, from the ring-necked pheasant to the horned lark, are more the result of pesticide use than any other factor, including habitat decline.

While the deadly links between pesticide use and bees have been widely reported in recent years, leading some European countries to suspend the use of certain products, less attention has been paid to the devastating effects of the poisons on bird populations. Species of owls, sparrows, and meadowlarks are on the long list of American farm-dwelling birds that are disappearing in part because they’re sucking down any of more than 100 types of pesticides. The pesticides also take a toll by killing the insects that the birds would eat.

The study “reminds us that the poisonings of birds and other wildlife chronicled a half century ago by famed biologist and author Rachel Carson are by no means a thing of the past,” Cynthia Palmer of the American Bird Conservancy said in a statement.

http://grist.org/news/pesticides-kill-birds/

Edited February 27, 2013 by Lincolns mullet

[TBoneTX 46,122]

*** Thread moved from P&R to Off Topic -- general-interest news story not political or religious. ***

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I've hated birds ever since that damn parrot a friend of mine had climbed up my arm and bit my ear.

[TBoneTX 46,122]

I've hated birds ever since that damn parrot a friend of mine had climbed up my arm and bit my ear.

I hate Ecuadorian roosters, si man. Maybe we should each go out and choke the chickens. (!)

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Commercial greed is a factor