Potential hazards of DRC- 1339 treated rice to non-target birds when used at roost staging areas in Louisiana to reduce local populations of depredating blackbirds

Authors

John L. Cummings, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
James F. Glahn, National Wildlife Research Center
E. Allen Wilson, USDA/APHIS/WS
James E. Davis Jr., National Wildlife Research Center

Date of this Version

July 2002

Comments

Published in International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation.

Abstract

Hazards of DRC-1339 treated brown rice to non-target birds were assessed during an operational baiting program near Point Blue, Louisiana, USA. The predominant non-target birds using DRC-1339 bait sites and surrounding habitat were savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), killdeers (Charadrius rociferus), and unidentified sparrows (Fringillidae). Systematic searches of DRC-1339 bait sites and adjacent habitat for non-target dead or affected birds produced 1 northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). There was no mortality of potential non-target species, savannah sparrows, white-crown sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys), field sparrows (Spizella pusilla), song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and chipping sparrows (Spizella passerina) that were held in captivity and offered only 2% DRC-1339 treated brown rice diluted 1:27 with untreated brown rice for 1 and 12 h each day for 5 days. There was no hazard of DRC-1339 to most non-target species using the test areas.