The poison of pesticide on birds - a case study on the Adzuki bean farm in Pingtung, Taiwan

• Main Authors: Shie, Ji-En, 謝季恩
• Other Authors: Yuan, Hsun-Sun
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6k89g7

碩士 === 國立屏東科技大學 === 野生動物保育研究所 === 103 === Carbofuran is a common agricultural insecticide but is also abused as a bird control pesticide by some farmers; yet, few studies have examined the extent to which carbofuran affects bird communities. We discovered two incidents of carbofuran poisoning in Black Kite (Milvus migrans) in Pingtung during fall of 2012, and thereafter conducted a survey to understand which species are prone to poisoning and how common it is for farmers to apply carbofuran for bird control. Red bean is an important local crop in fall and is known to suffer from bird damage and therefore receives bird controls. We selected four adjacent townships, including the one where we had discovered the poisoned Black Kites, and gathered dead birds in 130 red bean fields (122.75 ha). In 27 (40.07 ha) of these red bean fields, we found over 3105 dead birds from 10 families and 11 species, including Common a Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and a Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). Among the species, granivores such as House sparrow (Passer montanus) and Columbids were the primary victims due to the fact that rice is the most common poison bait used in these incidents. All 11 dead bird samples tested revealed carbofuran residue. The toxicity of carbofuran is relatively high for birds and only trace amounts can be lethal. Although granivores were the primary victims, scavengers like Black Kite and birds of prey as Common Kestrels may also fall victim to carbofuran since they prey on poisoned birds. We strongly suggest further study be continued, and that regulations of toxic chemicals be reinforced.