© AlamyA barn swallow hunting over a flowering oilseed rape field, Spain.
New research has identified the world's most widely used insecticides as the key factor in the recent reduction in numbers of farmland birds.
The finding represents a significant escalation of the known dangers of the insecticides and follows an assessment in June that warned that pervasive pollution by these nerve agents was now threatening all food production.
The neonicotinoid insecticides are believed to seriously harm bees and other pollinating insects, and a two-year EU suspension on three of the poisons began at the end of 2013. But the suspected knock-on effects on other species had not been demonstrated until now.
Peer-reviewed research, published in the leading journal Nature this Wednesday, has revealed data from the Netherlands showing that bird populations fell most sharply in those areas where neonicotinoid pollution was highest. Starlings, tree sparrows and swallows were among the most affected.
Starlings like this one have been impacted by the use of a neonicotinoid chemical according to scientists
© Derek MooreTree sparrow
Comment: Considering all the police brutality incidents in the news lately, one can hardly blame the cow for being a little suspicious about the cop's intentions and high-tailing it out of there.