SASKATOON — Newly published research says two of Canada’s most commonly used pesticides cause migrating songbirds to lose weight and their sense of direction. After three days, the low-dose birds lost 17 per cent of their weight. The high-dose birds lost 25 per cent. “At that point, those birds were on life support.”The birds exposed to organophosphates kept their weight, but they lost something else — their ability to find north. Morrissey points out that pesticides are often applied just as birds are increasing their food intake to get ready to migrate.

Source: National Post November 09, 2017 22:52 UTC