Huge decline in songbirds linked to common insecticide
The world's most widely used insecticide has been linked to the dramatic decline in songbirds in North America. A first ever study of birds in the wild found that a migrating songbird that ate the equivalent of one or two seeds treated with a neonicotinoid insecticide suffered immediate weight loss, forcing it to delay its journey.
Although the birds recovered, the delay could severely harm their chances of surviving and reproducing, say the Canadian researchers whose study is published today in Science.
“We show a clear link between neonicotinoid exposure at real-world levels and an impact on birds,” says lead author Margaret Eng, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Saskatchewan Toxicology Center.
Spring bird migration occurs when farmers are planting, and most crops in the United States and Canada are grown with neonicotinoid-treated seeds. Birds may suffer repeated exposure at successive stopover sites where they rest and feed. That may extend migration delays and their consequences, the study concludes.
Neonicotinoids, introduced in the late 1980s, were supposed to be a safer alternative to previous insecticides. But study after study has found that they play a key role in insect decline, especially bees. The EU banned the use of the chemicals in 2018 because they were killing pollinators. This study is another link in the chain of environmental problems, one showing that the use of neonicotinoids is harming birds, and that bird populations are at risk as a result, Eng said in an interview.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/09/widely-used-pesticide-makes-birds-lose-weight/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Science_20190918&rid=FB26C926963C5C9490D08EC70E179424
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about the author, Rachel Carson:
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NOW STREAMING
AIRED MAY 28, 2019
Rachel Carson
SHE SET OUT TO SAVE A SPECIES… US.
FROM THE COLLECTION: THE ENVIRONMENT
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/#part01
When Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F. Kennedy to launch the first-ever investigation into the public health effects of pesticides — an investigation that would eventually result in new laws governing the regulation of these deadly agents.
Featuring the voice of Mary-Louise Parker as the influential writer and scientist, Rachel Carson is an intimate portrait of the woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world. Drawn from Carson’s own writings, letters and recent scholarship, this film illuminates both the public and private life of the woman who launched the modern environmental movement and revolutionized how we understand our relationship with the natural world
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/
Full documentary:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/#part01
Transcript here:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/#transcript
