As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 10 July 2014

Bird decline 'smoking gun' for pesticide's effects

9th July 2014
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, BBC News

The widespread use of a type of insecticide that has been blamed for honeybee deaths is linked to a marked decline in bird numbers in Europe, a report says.

Imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid chemical, is widely used in agriculture to exterminate pests.

Dutch scientists say their data shows that the chemical is associated with a collapse in common bird species.

But manufacturers say the evidence of these effects is not substantiated.

Imidacloprid is one a number of neonicotinoid insecticides, introduced in the 1990s as a more environmentally friendly way of dealing with crop pests.

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