Nougat wrote:I wonder if rodents poisoned by those little bait stations for pest control have any adverse effect on birds?
Yes.
Secondary poisoning is not uncommon in birds of prey.
I don't know if strychnine is still a common component of rodenticides and other animal poisons, but I understand it doesn't breakdown, and can similarly cause secondary poisoning in any animal eating the primary target.
I believe it was about 1985-86 when the city of St Paul put out pigeon poison downtown. The birds literally fell out of the sky... in the river to be scooped up by eagles, which were found dead, as well as people's yards where pets were poisoned by eating the dead pigeons. There were actually groups of concerned citizens patrolling the river in boats with dip nets and doing yard-to-yard cleanups... A friend lost one of his dogs to what he suspects was a poisoned pigeon.
