Use of nonlethal bird repellants
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More Aging Earth Headlines >> 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - Aging Earth Home Use of nonlethal bird repellants Feb 2007 - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, DNR, has received temporary approval for the use of the nonlethal bird repellant Avitec from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. New this spring is a liquid formulation to complement use of a powder that was approved last year. Farmers in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota can use this repellent to treat seed corn in areas where cranes have been damaging corn fields by eating corn seeds shortly after planting. This approval reduces potential conflicts arising between farmers and the increasing population of sandhill cranes, the state agency said. The use of Avitec represents a cooperation effort by the International Crane Foundation, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program to prevent damage that cranes cause. Avitec has an active ingredient of 9,10 Anthraquinone, a naturally occurring substance used by plants to repel birds. Cranes detect Avitec at very low levels and avoid it. Though treated, planted kernels are not eaten by cranes and the birds continue to forage on waste grains and other foods in those same fields. This benefits the farmers because waste corn and many types of beetle larvae can later cause problems as the crop matures. This first agricultural application of 9,10 Anthraquinone, approved within the U.S. as a bird repellent, is the result of extensive collaboration among federal, state, and private organizations as well as Arkion, the manufacturer of Avitec. Applications for longer term use of Avitec are being pursued for the 2008 planting season. The recovery of Minnesota's sandhill crane population is a conservation success story, the DNR says. From the 1930s, when the state's crane population was estimated at fewer than three dozen birds the population has increased dramatically. Sandhill Cranes now are the most abundant of the world’s cranes. They are widely, though intermittently, distributed throughout North America, extending into Cuba and far northeastern Siberia, according to the International Crane Foundation. More Aging Earth Headlines >> 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - Aging Earth Home © 2009; Aging Earth .com |