Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 29 2009 | By: paula

According to authorities in the Masai Mara one person has been arrested in connection with the poisoning of a lion, hyenas and many vultures last week.

However, there is growing evidence that Furadan is viewed primarily for pest control in parts of Kenya. I just got this in from a tour operator

” A Maasai friend of mine who is cultivating just outside Narok told me he and his group keep seeing their shambas raided by baboons and some of the group wanted to get rid of the baboons using Furadan. Seems to be the method of choice for Maasai to deal with human / wildlife conflict. I urged him to dissuade his group from doing this”.

We will try to get more specifics on this incident. Meanwhile The Oregon Department of Agriculture has fined five Malheur County onion growers for misusing pesticides not labeled for use on their crops. The civil fines, totaling $180,000, are connected with the application of Furadan and Basagran on 18 fields during the 2008 growing season. Neither Furadan nor Basagran are approved for onions in Oregon. Investigators had found 18 fields with residues of products not labeled for use on onions.

In Kenya there is no regular investigations into proper pesticide use, and we have not found a single case where anyone has ever been found guilty of mis-use, let alone penalised for it.

On Monday a man was shot dead by KWS for killing a black rhino for it’s horn in Laikipia.

It  will be interesting to see if KWS or the PCPB will pursuse a case against the criminals involved in the poisoning of lion, hyenas, vultures and baboons in the Mara.

Tags: black rhino, carbofuran, furadan, KWS, Laikipia, Masai Mara, PCPB, rhino, wildlife poisoning, Wildlifedirect

No responses yet

Category: Masai Mara, carbofuran, lions | Date: May 28 2009 | By: paula

We have just heard from a reliable source that at least 35 vultures, one lion and a few hyeanas were poisoned bye the Olololaimutiak gate in the Masai Mara last week.

We are in the process of finding out if this is Furadan. It certainly sounds like Furadan from reports so far. Evidence will be collected and hopefully the government will conduct a full investigation to find out what happened, and to charge the offenders.

This week alone we have submitted four reports of wildlife poisoning that have occurred in the last  6 weeks or so, to the Pest Products Control Board in Nairobi. They are responsible for regulating the use of pesticides in Kenya and. Although we have not yet heard back from them, we are confident that they will conduct investigations and get back to us.

All suspected wildlife poisoning incidents that involve Furadan are also being forwarded to FMC who are working closely with the government regulators in Kenya.

One very positive outcome of this blog has been the general raising of awareness that there is somewhere to report the poisoning of wildlife in Kenya. To be more effective we need to reach other corners of Kenya and this takes time and money. Please share this information with your friends and networks and help us raise adequate funding to extend our work and reach more people and places where wildlife is silently dying.

One of our goals is to produce educational materials to share with the communties that are poisoning wildlife out of ignorance. Any help  that you can provide towards this work would be greatly appreciated.

Post Script

After posting this article I sent word out on twitter to find out if it was true and I got this response from Kimojino who tweets as @maratriangle “@paulakahumbu It’s true, over on other side of Mara. A revenge killing after the cows were killed by lions, while grazing IN the reserve.”

We’re trying to find out if it was Furadan

Tags: Birds, carbofuran, FMC, furadan, lions, Masai Mara, Poisoning wildlife, Wildlifedirect

3 responses so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 26 2009 | By: Martin Odino

(Dear readers, I apologize the Furadan Poisoned Pigeon video was disabled from You Tube for some reason and is unavailable on this post at the moment. We are however doing everything possible to re-embed it . please leep reading the other posts in the meantime).

The Mara Lion poisoning post with the poisoned lion video was about the first write up on our blog. Watching the wobbling lion struggling to be on its feet in this first post in every respect is now retraced by the Speckled pigeon struggling to be on its feet, yet again on its wings in this video.

The pigeon put up a spirited fight against intoxication from Furadan: difficulty in breathing hence panting, strings of mucous from its beak and operculum (nostrils) and stiffened wing and leg joints. It’s all in the following video clip.

The pigeon died. Thanks to Furadan.

Tags: Bunyala, furadan, Lion, Mara, poisoning

6 responses so far

Category: carbofuran, lions | Date: May 23 2009 | By: Martin Odino

U.S. regulator announces crackdown on carbofuran, and Canadian health
authorities are considering whether to follow suit

Mark Hume Vancouver - Globe and Mail Update, Wednesday, May. 20, 2009
11:05PM EDT

A toxic agricultural pesticide blamed for killing up to 100 million birds a
year in North America and for poisoning lions in Africa, is facing a
proposed ban in Canada this summer.

Following a ruling last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
forbid the sale of any domestic or imported food crops that have traces of
the chemical carbofuran, Health Canada is proposing to “phase out all uses”
of the pesticide.

But the move comes decades after Canadian government officials first
learned carbofuran was wiping out everything from flocks of songbirds in
the Prairies to eagles in British Columbia.

One of the first warnings about the pesticide came in 1984 when a
Saskatchewan farmer went to inspect a canola field he’d treated with
carbofuran.

“He returned to find the bodies of several thousand Lapland Longspurs
dotting the field,” according to a report on the incident by the Canadian
Wildlife Service.

The Lapland Longspur is a sparrow-like songbird that breeds in the Arctic
and winters in open fields across southern Canada and the United States.

In 1993, Agriculture Canada published a special “discussion document” on
the chemical that states “carbofuran has one of the highest recorded
toxicities to birds of any insecticide registered for use in Canada.”

A single grain of carbofuran - the size of piece of sand - or a single
tainted earthworm can be lethal, the document says. “On the basis of kill
rates reported in company studies conducted in cornfields, it can be
concluded that the use of granular carbofuran will result in the death of a
large proportion of the songbirds breeding in and around treated fields.”

Despite such findings, the government allowed use of the pesticide to
continue.

Pierre Mineau, a research scientist with CWS and one of the world’s leading
experts on carbofuran’s environmental impact, declined an interview request
yesterday, saying he couldn’t speak without clearance.

When The Globe and Mail refused to provide questions in advance,
Environment Canada officials said Dr. Mineau was not available.

Agriculture Canada directed all questions to Health Canada, which declined
to provide anyone to be interviewed.

“Health Canada is in the process of preparing a publication on the
re-evaluation of carbofuran to be released this summer, which will be
proposing to phase out all uses,” Philippe Laroche, a ministry media
spokesman, stated in an e-mail.

“The re-evaluation of carbofuran indicates that this insecticide poses
unacceptable risks to human health and the environment,” he wrote.

Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird
Conservancy, was delighted to hear Health Canada proposes following the
lead of the EPA.

“That’s great news. That’s wonderful,” he said yesterday.

He said estimates on the number of birds killed annually by carbofuran
range from 17 million to 100 million.

Asked why it has taken so long to ban the chemical when its devastating
impact on birds had been known for decades, Dr. Fry commented: “I think
there’s been a very aggressive campaign by the [manufacturing] company to
keep the pesticide on the market.”

Jim Fitzwater, a spokesman for FMC Corp., a Philadelphia company that
manufactures carbofuran under the trade name, Furadan®, said he wasn’t
aware of the Health Canada proposal.

“Let’s see what their analysis is first [before responding],” he said.

Mr. Fitzwater said FMC is planning to file an official objection to the EPA
ruling, and hopes to have that decision reviewed.

He declined to say how much Furadan® is sold in Canada, but a 1991 report
by Health Canada states that between 100,000 and 500,000 kilograms was
being used annually on crops.

Furadan® made international news in March when the CBS news program 60
Minutes reported that 75 lions had been killed in Kenya, apparently by
poachers who poisoned baits with the chemical.

FMC Corp. responded to the reports by withdrawing the chemical from the
market in Kenya.

Tags: Birds, carbofuran, EPA, FMC, lions

One response so far

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 22 2009 | By: Martin Odino

I have mentioned in a number of my earlier posts of confirmed allegations that White-faced Whistling Ducks were the prefered targeted bird for wild bird meat by poachers and consumers some years back. While the African Open-billed Stork is now the most dramatic in terms of manner of poisoning and numbers poisoned, the White-faced whistling Duck once stole this show.

For the fourth month running in this survey, I have only seen 6 resident White-faced Whistling Ducks in my study area; and 6 others in a nearby ox-bow lake of River Nzoia. While the resident population of these birds in the study area really counts for this survey in the sense that I hoped I would witness the recovery process of this beautiful duck’s population, following cessation in their baiting, it appears I may not witness this phenomenon afterall. Other forces are in play here!

Other ducks occur in the wetland that is the irrigation scheme in numbers that supercede the dismal number 6 of the White-faced Tree Ducks. Comb Ducks or the Knob-billed Ducks seem to be thriving far too well compared to other ducks in the area, namely Egyptian Geese and Spur-Winged Geese besides the White-faced Tree Duck.

An impressive flock of Comb Ducks flying in to the rice scheme to forage.

A section of the same flock. A trial to get a better silhouette of the birds. See the dark comb at the head on closer, keener look.

Population declines in the White-faced Whistling Ducks are said to have caused the poachers to shift their poisoning efforts to the next vulnerable species, the African Open-billed Stork. The poison baiting of the whistling ducks was such that rice grain mixed with furadan was put in small dishes and put just under water in the paddy field where the ducks would come dabbling. The ducks would then get to the poison site and in a bit find the easy bait and gorge on it only to end up dead from Furadan’s intoxication.

When the Tree Duck’s numbers were no longer attractive to the poachers’ business, they (poachers) abandoned the remaining for dead and engaged themselves to poisoning Storks assuming a similar ‘wipe-out’ strategy.

Recently, on one occasion during our usual assignment to count the poisoned birds in Bunyala Rice Scheme, a poacher approached us informing us that we needed to keep our distance not to interfere with ‘his’ birds that were eating bait. I realized he was holding an egg and I ventured to ask to know to which bird it belonged.”The White-faced Whistling Ducks. I always pick them up then I will cook and eat them at home”, he answered. It made sense because it was around the same area that I had met the cosy pair of White-faced whistling ducks with a Ruff contented in the company of the two.

The White-faced Whistling Ducks and their friend, the Ruff.

The cosy ducks. Probably the mates whose egg was taken away.

The egg on the ground. The poacher did not want to be seen holding it in the photo.

It is argued by the poachers that some Tree ducks come at the planting season and the population is larger when water is pumped into the Rice scheme. This does not mean all is well because the resident population is the one that breeds in the area. The immigrants from other wetlands once well fed will take to the wing and go breed where they came from. So it appears that the few white-faced whistling ducks at the site, though not targeted for poisoning at the moment, have to struggle against the raiding of their eggs from their nests. With the poacher’s thorough in the rice fields especially while locating their poisoned birds, then the White-faced Whistling Duck might not recover modestly fast afterall, or ….never recover altogether.

Please keep reading.

Tags: Bunyala Rice Scheme, furadan, Poacher, poisoning

No responses yet

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 21 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Hi friends. I have a couple of things that seem to be looking up which I would like to put across to you. Indeed you are the pro-anti-wildlife poisoning community with whom we share with every little success we attain. Thank you so much for your support and please keep supporting us.

First, We [Dr. Richard Leakey (Chairman, Wildlife Direct), Dr. Paula Kahumbu(CEO,Wildlife Direct and myself))] have been trying to have the poisoned bird samples tested for Furadan, now two weeks since I got them from the field. After going through what I would describe as seemingly protracted delay in the testing of the samples, finally we have word that the analysis will be done. I however still dread the rates which during my last visit at the institute I was informed that ‘new, international rates were to be adopted starting any second in time’. I however believe that we will pull through this.

We are also aware that our Kenyan parliament will be discussing ‘Why Furadan should not be banned in Kenya ‘, today. Our fingers are crossed.

Third, it appears the buy back by FMC, through the local supplier, JUANCO is doing well, but my fear is how effective the buy back process is. I have a hunch that the we could be deceived by a pseudo success with the buy back of Furadan. This especially follows the findings, from a visit to an area, 2 days ago, where I have done two surveys in the past. This is in Kajiado District, Kenya where in the surrounding rural neighbourhood, Furadan has been used to poison carnivores: lions and hyenas as per the surveys’ findings, to resolve human-wildlife (carnivore) conflict.
After going around virtually all the agrovet shops in the small market centre, of all the agrovet shops that were open, I only found Mocap (the replacement of Furadan)in one. The others did not have Mocap. Then I wondered, how come they all said Mocap had replaced Furadan and significantly, no agrovet seemed to be stocking it? In addition, all the peopple I asked about Furadan and Mocap were so suspicious and a number needed my phone contact!?

Mocap in 1 agrovet shop out of about 15 agrovets.

I was yet to get more overwhelmed in wonder until when I got mocked at with a pack of the killer pesticide in the last agrovet that I paid a visit. In the earlier surveys, I had met a male sales person at the counter of this agrovet. This time it was a lady. So I informed the lady that I had come looking for a certain young man whom I had interacted with sometime back and that I was doing a survey on Mocap and Furadan. I described the man precisely, hoping the fortune from furadan sale had not changed his physical appearance.As the lady regarded me with suspicion, the gentleman matched in. Strange, she informed him that I had just been asking for him. Thanks to the matching of my description. A few exchange of Masai words that left me enshrouded in ignorance but at last I was welcome.

The gentleman was suspicious but when I truthfully told him that I had come to seek some information about Furadan, his Moran ego, being Masai, overtook him and as he mockingly rebuked me and my associates for succeeding in ‘banning’ furadan, he danced and went behind the sales lady where there was another shelf facing the other way round, fished out something, blew off some dust from it with his strong exhalation, picked up a rag and wiped the white container with a pink cap, then marched back to the counter and with a resounding thud, dropped it under my nose in my full view!a 200gram Furadan 5G pack! I shook it to confirm it had the granules. Yes it had contents! God! What if there were hundreds of this where he had got this one from?

I thought quickly, realizing I had to be cautious here. I pushed away the thought of what could be fished out next. A club?…or a spear?afterall I noticed I was foe at this point. Tactfully, I sought to know his opinion in pesticidal effectiveness of Mocap versus Furadan, giving him a lead that Furadan might afterall be the way better pesticide.

And so my friend let loose of all that lay covered at heart with my lead: He revealed that loads of the pesticide are stashed by some farmers and some retailers (some poachers too I bet); he did not trust the buy back and said most likely Furadan would just be given a different trade name and be re-introduced to the market, may be with a slight colour modification and would be sold more expensively to recover for the years that it is will have been lying underground. He went ahead to give me an example of a domestic fly insecticide once called SNIP that was banned then 3 years later reintroduced as AGITA, with slight colour modification and infact the package was maintained but for the trade name and now costs 300% higher (Does it mean 100% for every year in ‘banned’ state?). For some reason, he said contraband Furadan is infiltrating into Kenya from Tanzania. To the best of my Knowledge, Furadan supply is supposed to be withdrawn and is being bought back by FMC from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The salesman could not resist smiling as he reminded me that the ’sweetness of profits’ in this agrovet business is realized in dealing with contraband products and that Furadan could bring big-time returns!

I cunningly divulged from the Furadan discussion and slowly cooled down the heat that ensued from what the agrovet man had revealed as I sought a way to disengage from the dialogue and leave. I had samples to be analysed that I had to go follow up with. And so I contemplated in my mind about the whole experience. I cannot stop thiking the other agrovets still had Furadan stock somewhere. What if JUANCO were buying what was just on the shelves?Do they really have authority to check back stage supply storages of these agrovets? may be this is where PCPB and AAK can flex their muscles undefeatably, but sad that they are not just willing to do it yet. They are still in denial that Furadan is indeed more of a poison than a pesticide.

I am due to get back to the field in just about 1 week. Remember my operation A MONTH OUT WITH BIRDS GETTING POISONED and kindly support me. I believe there was no better timing for this operation especially with seeming attention captured from the agro-retail, governmental and the general public. Let’s see how bird poisoning goes this month which should indeed reflect on the effectiveness of the Furadan withdrawal process and reveal if the rice schemes are to be targeted for urgent buy back.

Will keep updating you. keep reading.

Tags: AAK, FMC, furadan, JUANCO, Mocap, Paula Kahumbu, PCPB, poison, Richard Leakey, Wildlife Direct

No responses yet

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 18 2009 | By: Martin Odino

On the average, I estimate the African Open-billed Storks in Bunyala to weigh about 1.5 Kg and standing at 55cm, with neck fully, uprightly stretched.Poachers reveal that the African Open-billed Stork is their favourite poisoning target, especially when dealing with a non-suspecting flock.

African Open-billed Storks.

The situation gets tricky after the birds winess the deaths of their own during the first few baiting sessions and become supicious. This explains why the poachers keep changing the bait-laying sites, to deceive the birds. Nonetheless, going for openly laid out bait is more energy consuming compared to wading the waters, searching and capturing the snails. The suspicious storks therefore still end up eating poison-laced baits and get intoxicated.

This Stork’s specialized feeding habit, hence an ‘open bill’ adaptation seems to be its major undoing factor. While the lower mandible/bill holds on to the outside of the snail’s shell, the upper bill snips the membrane that attaches the soft snail in its shell cavity. The bird therefore feeds majorly on the water snails. Thus, easily laid out bait is almost irresistable to the storks.

The suitably adapted ‘open bill’.

Poachers claim that much as these guys are their favourite, furadan poison NEVER kills them. From my observations, It makes sense. Each of the storks needs lots of the snails to get satisfied. A poacher who keeps captive storks for his poisoning estimates about 20 snails a day for each of his captive birds. Bear in mind the captives are traumatized and exhibit low appetites. I believe free storks therefore eat more than that.

Captive Open-billed Storks in their confinement. Remaining snail shells after they have eaten at their feet.

You must be wondering, If furadan NEVER kills the African Open-billed Storks then how come I claim I know it to kill whole flocks?Using a case example of data gathered early tis month a poacher’s bait size constituted about 50 furadan-laced snails, while the target stork population was 53 birds. This means with fair opportunity, 3 birds will not get a bite of the intoxicated snails. At the end of the baiting, 18 storks were retrieved, but all were either clobered or strangled.

My inference is that the bait size was small for equally competing 53 members of the flock, for the poisoned to have attained the lethal dose required to kill any of the storks. In their disoriented state however, they were ambushed to their deaths.

Snail bait (enough for a baiting session) that has not been laced with Furadan.

Disoriented Storks.

A poacher closing in on the disoriented storks, club in hand.

The poachers claim that the poison can only kill the storks if they come to feed on the bait on an empty stomach. If already fed, the storks tend to regurgitate, and this I can bear witness to since I have observed a number get disoriented and in the process of throwing up, regain their composure and take to flight. The poachers say the vomiting is voluntarily induced by the birds from the sickening feeling. They therefore always try to lay the poison bait early to maximize on kill and minimize physical strain of chasing and battering the birds, but somehow the nirds always reach the fields before them. Battering and strangling therefore remains the norm in killing the African Open-billed Storks.

Tags: African Open-billed Stork, Bunyala, furadan, Poacher

No responses yet

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 16 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Well, proving furadan pesticide poisoning is one of the most elusive concepts that those who may not be out to witness poisoning are priviledged not to be taunted with.

Saturday, 21:30 hrs in Kenya and I am wondering what happens to my samples lying at KEPHIS laboratory. It has been a week since I submitted them there. That the only national HPLC facility was not working left me with no option but to wait till I am contacted in the week that just ended just before the testing is done. Then I am told till Tuesday next week. The technician sounded convincing that at -20 degrres centigrade, the processes likely to degrade the poison were halted, so I have to wait patiently for 72 more hours.

I witnessed these birds die from eating rice churned in a solution of furadan but still I have to send around 100 USD for each sample to scientifically verify my findings. Well, I find it hard to like science at this point, but it a necessary evil.

Just a recap:

The purple granules of furadan showing in the cavities of some of the snails’ shells

Furadan-laced snails, meant for storks; sticks used to apply the poison into the snails’ shell cavities

A poacher’s foot, kill and poison (Furadan 5G )

Furadan 5G

The sample of rice and furadan granules insolubles collected from the container in which bait was carried.

I bet with the above pieces of evidence, chances that I am wrong are almost none.

I am worried that while the storks eat the snails with the granules, and there is a possibility of finding the purple granules in their guts, seedeaters do not eat the granules! they eat the furadan laced grains that hardly even show the purple colouration, that would be a quick indicator.

In my samles, I did not get a stork’s gut. This is because my surveys last not less than 10 days. It just happened that the last flock of the storks had been poisoned to the last, 2 days earlier. The storks’ availability in the rice scheme is greatly dependent on water availability. With the harvesting having just been completed, the storks had thinned out to only this single flock whose members had been poisoned by the earliest day that I could halt the survey.

I really hope that minus twenty degrees celcius temperature in which my sample are preserved works.

Will keep updating you.

Tags: Bunyala, furadan, HPLC, KEPHIS

No responses yet

Category: carbofuran | Date: May 15 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Hi readers,

These 2 poisoned storks and indeed most storks have their necks twisted or strangled to ensure they dont escape once poisoned. Look at the necks of the above storks, almost featherless where the necks were turned around.

Yes, poverty may be a factor behind the massive bird poisoning witnessed in Bunyala. But I reckon wrong attitude is by far the greater factor behind the poisoning.

The pesticide poison, Furadan must be celebrating about 3 decades of activity in Kenya shared most likely unproportionally between indiscriminate poisoning and boosting Kenya’s agricultural productivity. No doubt the pesticide kills all nematodes, may be all pests in the soil, hence a champion pesticide. But its rogue silent killing properties spilled out to non-crop pests and turned a killer to other organisms that are not nematodes or soil worms. During this period, the pesticide has been known to be in use in Bunyala, thanks to Bunyala Rice Scheme.

This means, people in my age group in the area grew up in the epoch of furadan but surprisingly most acknowledge it as an avicide (bird poison) rather than crop, especially rice in the area nematicide. My whole point is that they have a nurtured twisted outlook of furadan and acknowledge it as the solution to wild meat requirements. This reminds me early in the month while out on the survey when on one occassion I went out with my assistant to purchase beef for supper. It was a pity that the nearest Butchery had plenty of meat but a foul smell prevailed in the butchery premises because the owner explained that peoplewere not buying meat! Jokingly, he added in vernacular that it was because ‘birds were in season!’

In one of my failed bird rescue missions, I carried back to camp a pigeon to open it up just to see how mich rice it had pecked in and how it looked like once inside the bird’s gut. The eldest of the kids at the home where we camp came around while I was just cutting through the well-fleshed breast muscles of the bird and whistled in amazement, mutering in vernacular what my assistant explained was expressing a strong wish to have the bird after we were done with it.

I could not help repremanding the boy against his misplaced desires, especially knowing that he kept a sizeable flock of domestic pigeons. We agreed that I would assist him in expanding his birds’ house so they would have more nesting space to multiply and he would have enough to eat as he wished.

Myself just about to open up the poisoned pigeon coveted by the boy

Some of the domestic pigeons kept by the boy (Peter)

In another instance, I engaged myself in a discussion with primary school boys who vehemently defended bird killing (through poisoning in Bunyala) with the bible that it is justified in christianity and that God gave us wild animals for consumption. But I told them God did not say we kill and destroy all animals like poisoning was doing. Well I seemed a little convincing so I got the opportunityto fish out my phone and show them the clip of the mara lion poisoning, leaving them shocked at the paralysis exhibited by the lions. I told them humans are not as strong as lions and so by poisoning and eating birds poisoned by furadan, they were risking their lives. Well, I must have had effect because they announced their leave but other than going on to look for poisoned birds, they walked home (but one carried away the Speckled pigeon they had picked. Check photo below).

Attitude being reversed???!the boys I engaged in discussion with.

Otherwise, the poachers are just so stubborn and badly twisted with poisoning seemingly an embedded vice in their manners, the reason furadan must be kept away from them.

Twisting backwards a Storks wing is crooked or in my words..twisted!The poacher goes further to tease the stork while holding one of its wings. The poachers are so stubborn they won’t see beyond bird poisoning.

I can only hope there are more of such settings; that the few that heed my enlightment pass it on even to younger generations. Below, the kid by my assistant should grow not to acknowledge poisoning and to uphold wildlife conservation.

Please keep reading.

Tags: Birds, furadan, Kenya, Poacher, poisoning

4 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 14 2009 | By: Martin Odino

Dear readers, this is a cool off post. No terror of poisoning today.The saddening gloom of this blog should actually bring hope and panacea to the poor animals suffering poisoning by furadan. Today I will write about one of the most important identification feature that I employ in this survey.

This survey has bird identification as an important component if at all the poisoning threat by furadan has to be reliably precise. The families of seedeaters are quite varied with similar species. I have had to deal with doves and weaver birds which if you are not careful, you would easily identify them wrongly and give wrong statistics as concerns species mortality attributed to furadan.

Here are a few examples, while we also acknowledge the beauty of these beautiful creatures: By the way, check the colour of the iris of the eye or the region that surrounds the pupil (the round almost consistently black part of the eye).

The photo above is the back and front views of the Yellow-backed Weaver with characteristic black eyes. It resembles the Jackson’s Golden-backed Weaver below.

You notice the red of the iris of the eye?

If you take a quick look of the bird above, you will probably identify it as 3b below, which is a female Common Quail.

But a keen look at the eye (below), you will realize ithe iris is brown (unlike for the Common Quail, 3b above which is black).

The bird is therefore actually 2b which is a female Harlequin Quail.

The doves above appear to have the same plumage but they are two different species, the African Mourning Dove (cream iris) and the Red-eyed Dove (deep red iris).

Above is an adult Speckled Pigeon. The iris looks cream. Eye colour also tells the age of the bird. Check the eye of the Speckled Pigeon below.

This immature Speckled Pigeon’s eye is brownish.

And so the eye is a useful identification feature for the birds out here in Bunyala and would be elsewhere while they also evoke different feelings attributed to the species, again useful in identification

‘Boldness’ - Spur-winged Plover

‘Alertness’ - Hammerkop

‘Fierceness’ - (immature) Black-Chested Snake-Eagle.

Tags: Birds, furadan, poisoning

3 responses so far