A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds

Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides widely used as seed treatments, but little is known of their effects on migrating birds that forage in agricultural areas. We tracked the migratory movements of imidacloprid-exposed songbirds at a landscape scale using a combination of experimental dosing a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2019-09, Vol.365 (6458), p.1177-1180
Main Authors: Eng, Margaret L, Stutchbury, Bridget J M, Morrissey, Christy A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agrochemicals
Animal Migration
Animals
Bird populations
Birds
Body Composition
Body mass
Breeding success
Dosage
Exposure
Feeding Behavior
Food consumption
Imidacloprid
Ingestion
Insect migration
Insecticides
Insecticides - toxicity
Intoxication
Landscape
Migration
Migratory birds
Neonicotinoids - toxicity
Neurotoxicity
Nitro Compounds - toxicity
Ontario
Passeri
Pesticides
Pollinators
Radio telemetry
Reproduction
Seed treatments
Songbirds
Sparrows - physiology
Survival
Telemetry
Water pollution effects
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Summary:Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides widely used as seed treatments, but little is known of their effects on migrating birds that forage in agricultural areas. We tracked the migratory movements of imidacloprid-exposed songbirds at a landscape scale using a combination of experimental dosing and automated radio telemetry. Ingestion of field-realistic quantities of imidacloprid (1.2 or 3.9 milligrams per kilogram body mass) by white-crowned sparrows ( ) during migratory stopover caused a rapid reduction in food consumption, mass, and fat and significantly affected their probability of departure. Birds in the high-dose treatment stayed a median of 3.5 days longer at the site of capture after exposure as compared with controls, likely to regain fuel stores or recover from intoxication. Migration delays can carry over to affect survival and reproduction; thus, these results confirm a link between sublethal pesticide exposure and adverse outcomes for migratory bird populations.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aaw9419