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Bird conservation action and a bit on Scarlet Tanagers



Hi Folks,

I sent a post re. tanagers earlier but I don't think it made it:
2 adult male Scarlet Tanagers in southern SC. One seen in southern Edgefield 
County by my better half and me on the 9th and reported again on the 16th 
(along Steven's Creek). The other is in Jackson, SC (southern Aiken Couty) 
in a friends yard last weekend and remaining there for at least a few days. 
They shouldn't be here right now, but then birds do have wings...

Below is a story of further erosion:

EPA TO ALLOW LOUISIANA TO USE BIRD KILLING PESTICIDE
Public Has Only 5 Days to Help Stop This From Happening!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency
request by Louisiana rice growers to combat rice weevils by using 1,500
pounds of granular carbofuran - one of the world's most potent bird-killing 
pesticides -- on 10,000 acres of rice fields.   An additional 4,500 pounds 
of the deadly pesticide may be produced to meet the rice growers' demands.

Audubon and our partners in conservation are working to see that they are 
stopped from rolling back bird protections to produce more of this poison 
and apply it to rice fields as a bird-killing trap.

EPA initially intended to grant the rice growers an "emergency use"
application, without seeking public comment or alerting conservation groups 
However, after pressure from Audubon and other groups, EPA has agreed to 
allow only enough pesticide to cover 2,500 acres immediately, and have 
opened a five-day public comment period, beginning Thursday, June 27th, 
before they decide whether to authorize carbofuran use, and give the green 
light for more bird-poison production, to cover the remaining 7,500 acres.

Laboratory data verify that carbofuran is among the most highly toxic
pesticides to birds. One tiny granule can kill a songbird, and more than
fifty species, including Bald and Golden Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Great
Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Pintail, and Blue-winged Teal, have 
been documented as having died from carbofuran poisoning. EPA estimated that 
prior to cancellation of the granular formulation, up to two million birds 
were killed each year by carbofuran. No other substance listed under the 
EPA's Ecological Incident Investigation System has killed more birds.  In 
October 1999, for example, nearly 27,000 migratory birds, including 
red-winged blackbirds and horned larks, were killed on a 13-acre plot when a 
farmer illegally applied carbofuran to wheat seed and spread it between rows 
of wheat crop intentionally as bait for the birds.

However, it does not require malice to kill birds with one of the world's 
most dangerous bird-killing poisons.  Scientists at the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (FWS) stated that "there are no known conditions under 
which carbofuran can be used without killing migratory birds. Many of these 
die-off incidents followed applications of carbofuran that were made with 
extraordinary care.". Scientists from around the country concur.   In 
southwest Louisiana, where the rice farmers want to apply the poison, 
hundreds of species of birds could be at risk, including the threatened bald 
eagle.  The proposed carbofuran poisoning could have a particularly 
devastating impact on bird species that are often found in large numbers in 
rice fields, such as wading birds and neotropical migrant shorebirds.  A 
single exposure to the deadly pesticide of a large group of Buff-breasted 
Sandpipers or Short-billed Dowitchers, for example, could wipe out a 
globally significant number of their remaining population.  Both species are 
list
ed on Audubon's WatchList of birds that could be headed for extinction, and 
would be migrating through southwest Louisiana at the time the pesticides 
would be applied.

Four pesticides are registered for use against the rice water weevil that 
are not nearly the potent bird-killer that carbofuran has proven to be. 
According to Louisiana State University, these pesticides work as well or 
better than carbofuran and for equal or lesser cost.

That's why Audubon and our partner organizations are committed to stopping 
any further use of the bird-killer carbofuran - but we can't do it alone. We 
need your help - and we need it now, as the EPA will make their decision in 
less than five days!

Please send a message to the EPA immediately and urge them to deny any
further use of carbofuran!  Click onto this link to send your message right 
now - and please encourage your family and friends to do so as well!  The 
clock is ticking...and thousands of birds are at stake!

http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/contact/default.asp?subject=56




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