Old Project Avalon Forum (ARCHIVE) - View Single Post - Federal Agency Kills Thousands of Birds with Pesticide

judykott · 02-02-2009, 01:56 AM

I belong to Albertabird and was a volunteer at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary for 5 years and we noticed a huge decline in Swainsons Hawks a few years back,we had heard in one night 10,000 died down in South America. Pesticides are definately a problem.

Swainson's Hawk has suffered population declines since the first half of the century and was Blue-listed in the United States from 1972 to 1982. It has since been placed on the National Audubon's List of Special Concern in 1986. It is now listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a Category 3C candidate. It should be noted that the Swainson's Hawk was removed from the active Federal list because it was found to be more abundant than previously thought; it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN due to its wide overall range[5]. It remains listed as a threatened species by the California Department of Fish and Game as it has been since 1983.

A major cause of Swainson's Hawk population decline was pesticide use in its wintering grounds of Argentina. Farmers there were using pesticides (DDT and monocrotophos) to control grasshopper and locust infestations, and the Swainson's Hawks were ingesting these pesticides in several different ways, but mainly by gorging themselves on the insects as they lay dying. The U.S. has worked with Argentine farmers to resolve this problem.[6]

02-02-2009, 01:56 AM	#5
judykott Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 711	Re: Federal Agency Kills Thousands of Birds with Pesticide I belong to Albertabird and was a volunteer at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary for 5 years and we noticed a huge decline in Swainsons Hawks a few years back,we had heard in one night 10,000 died down in South America. Pesticides are definately a problem. Swainson's Hawk has suffered population declines since the first half of the century and was Blue-listed in the United States from 1972 to 1982. It has since been placed on the National Audubon's List of Special Concern in 1986. It is now listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a Category 3C candidate. It should be noted that the Swainson's Hawk was removed from the active Federal list because it was found to be more abundant than previously thought; it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN due to its wide overall range[5]. It remains listed as a threatened species by the California Department of Fish and Game as it has been since 1983. A major cause of Swainson's Hawk population decline was pesticide use in its wintering grounds of Argentina. Farmers there were using pesticides (DDT and monocrotophos) to control grasshopper and locust infestations, and the Swainson's Hawks were ingesting these pesticides in several different ways, but mainly by gorging themselves on the insects as they lay dying. The U.S. has worked with Argentine farmers to resolve this problem.[6]