How long does it take pesticides to kill? What else could it be??

17 years ago

Found two more dead baby Blues this morning down at the park. So the nest that had five now only has two left. They are approx 10-11 days old. The two remaining look fine however so did the other two on Thursday and now they are dead. There is no sign of anything on them, the looked fine. Nothing in the nest and the nest is dry. Only thing I can think of is what they have been eating. This nestbox successfully fledged two nesting both last year and the year before. It is on the backside of the park in a more open brushy area with farmers fields after the brushline and woods inbetween the nestbox and the front of the park. Generally the Blues that nest here stay away from the front of the park due to the distance and aren't near mowed grassy areas at all. However I did one day see a female Blue in the mowed area in the front of the park and they sprayed the park for weeds on Memorial Day, then it rained for the following two days. My question is how long does it take to kill a baby bird if they eat a pesticide infected bug? First baby died approx one week after the park was sprayed, second two four days after the first. I have no clue if the farmers spray anything on the fields back there, last year they had corn, wheat and hay back there, no clue what is there this year, cannot see it from the nestbox. What do you think, could it be from what they sprayed on Memorial Day or is there anything else you can think of that it would be?? I am so saddened over this!!

Donna

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Comments (2)

dmarieok
17 years ago
Question....last year, I almost lost a nest of three and before they died, their bodies turned yellowish and they did NOT look good...my female had used mulch from nextdoor to make the nest...this was all I could figure out that may be making them sick, so I did a complete nest change and they all made it after that, but they were definitely sick birds...I have no idea if a nest change would help, but anything is worth a try at this point....

Also, are they growing properly (as in being fed by adults, etc?)

I also nest Martins and the Martin nest that used the same nesting material as the blue, I lost three of five...so it actually had to do with the treated nest material somehow....It was at about the same age as well..

I don't know if this will help at all, I sure hope so and I am very sorry!

Diane
dzyg
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for your reply! The nest is made of grass and pine needles, nothing different in there that I could tell, it did seem kinda dusty when I took it out but that is pretty normal. Yesterday it started raining around 10:30AM and rained non stop through most of last night. Today we are gone most of the day but it is cool (highs around 50) and very windy today. It is supposed to start raining again tonight through the day tomorrow. Nothing is dry around here to make a different nest. I am still leaning towards the pesticide they sprayed but was just wondering if it would actually take that long to kill the babies. I am kinda dreading what I will find when I go down there to check o them again. I have seen the mom every time I have gone down there and the last two she had bugs in her mouth, the babies are growing properly, just not sure why they aren't making it!
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How long does it take pesticides to kill? What else could it be??

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dmarieok

dzyg
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How long does it take pesticides to kill? What else could it be??

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dmarieok

dzygOriginal Author

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dzyg
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