Leaving poisons out in the wild is, in comparison to other ways of killing animals, among the most inhumane and indiscriminate of methods. Highly toxic poisons wreak havoc on the animals who ingest them, regardless of whether they were the intended victims or non-target casualties like endangered species and family pets.
Such is the case with Avitrol, a nervous system toxicant promoted as a “flock frightening agent” or “repellent,” and commonly used to kill birds, primarily pigeons and sparrows in urban areas and starlings and blackbirds on farms. It causes birds who eat it to suffer convulsions, fly erratically, sometimes striking structures, vocalize repeatedly, and eventually die. The whole idea is that while the birds are suffering from the effects of the poison, their erratic behavior will frighten away other birds.
The tremendous amount of suffering is frightening, alright. “Birds were just falling out of the sky. They would land, lie on the ground, flap and die,” a Staten Island resident told the New York Daily News. A neighbor added that the birds were flying around crooked—“as if they were drunk”—before torpedoing to the ground when more than 50 common grackles plummeted to the pavement.
In Cumberland County, New Jersey, residents found at least 80 dead birds—mostly red-winged blackbirds—causing a bloody mess on roadways in the residential area. A resident told NBC News, “They’d get up and try and fly and they were out of control so they’d crash and fall again.” Metro stations in Washington, D.C., closed when the discovery of numerous dead birds raised fears of a terror attack.
Despite these horror stories, Avitrol has been allowed in most of the U.S. for four decades, although it has been banned through much of Europe and restricted or prohibited in New York City, San Francisco, and Boulder, Colorado. From 2002 to 2006, 151-175 pounds of the poison were sold in the U.S. annually—enough to kill more than 200 million birds each year.
Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency has been reviewing the permitted uses for Avitrol. The agency stopped short of removing this reckless product from the market, but it did recently strengthen protective measures. The EPA’s newly approved label for Avitrol products implements some long-awaited improvements by imposing restrictions on how the poison may be used.
New requirements include mandating users to remain onsite to monitor the poison if placed in areas open to the public. Avitrol is most commonly placed on rooftops and the new requirements limit access to authorized handlers of the poison until all dead birds and unused poison is retrieved. This change will protect people and children from accidental exposure, but will not necessarily protect non-target animals. The requirements also direct Avitrol users to make sure federally protected birds are not harmed; pick up unconsumed bait at the end of each day, where it may be a hazard; retrieve dead birds in and around occupied buildings (which may prevent secondary poisoning of raptors who feed on the poisoned birds); not use where non-target birds are feeding; and ensure that pets, livestock, and people are kept away from the poison.
The EPA’s new safety measures are a step in the right direction, but are not enough to stop the mass killings of birds and non-target animals, and the repeated sequels of birds falling from the sky and other scenes from horror movies. The best solution is to use more humane ways to solve bird conflicts that don’t kill wild birds. Public agencies and private companies can use effective methods such as reducing and eventually stopping large-scale feeding of pigeons; using exclusion techniques to prevent roosting and nesting; and limiting flock size with pigeon birth control. More information on non-lethal techniques—which are better for birds and our communities—is available here.
