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The discovery disturbed birders doing the 36th annual Christmas Bird Count. USDA officials appeared to take carcasses for necropsy. An agricultural extension agent said the poison DRC-1339 might be the cause of the deaths. The article says that USDA Wildlife Services doses french fries, raisins, rolled grain and pellets with the poison. A paper the USDA wrote says they have never poisoned secondary species with the poison, but this is disputed.
http://www.wildearthguardians.org/si...dInterest=1227
Birders find dozens of dead crows in Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park
By Ashley Meeks ameeks@lcsun-news.com
Posted: 12/20/2011 11:41:05 PM MST
Dead American crows lay along the banks of the Rio Grande... (Photo courtesy of Ken Stinnett.)
LAS CRUCES - The Mesilla Valley Audubon Society counts birds every year - but it usually focuses on birds of the living variety...
By Ashley Meeks ameeks@lcsun-news.com
Posted: 12/20/2011 11:41:05 PM MST
Dead American crows lay along the banks of the Rio Grande... (Photo courtesy of Ken Stinnett.)
LAS CRUCES - The Mesilla Valley Audubon Society counts birds every year - but it usually focuses on birds of the living variety...
http://www.wildearthguardians.org/si...dInterest=1227
Wildlife Services’ recklessness with DRC-1339 alarmed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The FWS indicated in several biological opinions that only strychnine (a highly regulated substance) has more potency than DRC-1339; that Wildlife Services repeatedly failed to account for non-target species poisonings; and that federally-protected species such as whooping cranes and bald eagles could be harmed by DRC-1339.
DRC-1339 kills target species such as blackbirds, but also poisons other species unintentionally through two processes: 1) directly: grain-eating birds consume the toxicant and die; and 2) indirectly: avian predators or scavengers eat dead or dying birds that have been poisoned by DRC-1339.
The list of non-target species killed by DRC-1339 includes: savannah sparrows, killdeers, mourning doves, meadowlarks, American pipits, northern cardinals, horned larks, herring gulls, ring-necked pheasants, American robins, American tree sparrows, Canada geese, mallards, northern flickers, downy woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos, green-winged teals, song sparrows, vesper sparrows, grasshopper sparrows, field sparrows, and rock doves. The FWS documented in 1995 that a peregrine falcon died from secondary toxicity after eating starlings near a DRC-1339-baited site; FWS also had concerns about bald eagles succumbing to secondary poisoning.
In short, DRC-1339 causes primary and secondary death. It kills non-target species. Yet, poisoning black birds with DRC-1339 has failed to protect sunflower crops, according to Wildlife Services’ own researchers.
DRC-1339 kills target species such as blackbirds, but also poisons other species unintentionally through two processes: 1) directly: grain-eating birds consume the toxicant and die; and 2) indirectly: avian predators or scavengers eat dead or dying birds that have been poisoned by DRC-1339.
The list of non-target species killed by DRC-1339 includes: savannah sparrows, killdeers, mourning doves, meadowlarks, American pipits, northern cardinals, horned larks, herring gulls, ring-necked pheasants, American robins, American tree sparrows, Canada geese, mallards, northern flickers, downy woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos, green-winged teals, song sparrows, vesper sparrows, grasshopper sparrows, field sparrows, and rock doves. The FWS documented in 1995 that a peregrine falcon died from secondary toxicity after eating starlings near a DRC-1339-baited site; FWS also had concerns about bald eagles succumbing to secondary poisoning.
In short, DRC-1339 causes primary and secondary death. It kills non-target species. Yet, poisoning black birds with DRC-1339 has failed to protect sunflower crops, according to Wildlife Services’ own researchers.