Sorry if this is not an appropriate news item for this group, but I think
it's important to be informed about these dramatic events outside our neck
of the woods.

Per CNN (http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9910/21/deadbirds.ap/index.html)

MASCOUTAH, Illinois. (AP) -- Wheat soaked with an agricultural insecticide
may have killed as many as 27,000 birds in a southern Illinois field and
officials want to know if the mass poisoning was intentional.

About 75 percent of the dead birds were red-winged blackbirds. The rest were
brown-headed cowbirds, grackles, starlings and horned larks, said Georgia
Parham of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The insecticide Furidan -- a chemical usually sprayed directly on a crop --
was spread on the St. Clair County winter wheat field, said Capt. Mark
Ottis, a state conservation officer.

State Department of Natural Resources spokesman Joe Khayyat said the
insecticide was used "apparently for the sole purpose of eliminating a
population of blackbirds that were perceived to be a nuisance."

No charges have been filed, pending the outcome of lab tests on the
carcasses. Authorities said the land owner is cooperating with
investigators.

If the poisoning was intentional, the farmer could face federal charges
since migrating birds are protected by federal law, Parham said. Officials
had first suspected that a downdraft killed the birds by slamming them into
the ground.

Workers finished picking up the carcasses Wednesday to prevent other animals
from eating them and possibly becoming sick. Officials said there is no
danger to humans.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
the St. Clair County state's attorney's office were investigating.

Robert Riedl
tulse at msn.com
Bellevue, WA