I enjoy feeding wild birds. I also have pet birds. I was shopping at Lowes last year and purchased a bag of Scotts "Morning Song" Wild bird food. I wondered if I could feed it to my pet birds. I read the label and it said that it was NOT for domestic birds. I wondered why. Now I know. grrr.

I will NEVER purchase another product from this company again.

Scotts Miracle-Gro the bird-killing company?

The Guardian-March 21, 2012

"The Scotts Miracle-Gro company pleads guilty to knowingly selling poisoned birdseed, and lawn and garden care products containing undocumented pesticides, to an unsuspecting public

I recently heard about the most astonishing corporate crime: the American company, Scotts Miracle-Gro, violated US federal environmental laws by manufacturing and selling poisoned birdseed for more than two years. The Scotts Miracle-Gro company entered guilty pleas to all charges in U.S. District Court and these guilty pleas were accepted by Judge James Graham on Tuesday, 13 March 2012. Penalties have not yet been determined.

In addition to lawn and garden care products, the Scotts Miracle-Gro company manufactures and distributes several widely-used and popular brands of food for wild birds, marketed under the names, "Country Pride" and "Morning Song", as well as "Scott's Songbird Selections" and "Scott's Wild Bird Food", which are collectively known as "Morning Song". These brand lines include bags of seed and seed mixes, suet blocks and other foods intended for wild birds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro added toxic chemicals to their bird seeds

According to court documents, the Scotts Miracle-Gro company added the pesticides, Storcide II and Actellic 5E, to their wild bird feeds to prevent insects from consuming the products during storage. Neither pesticide is licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in bird foods. This is in direct violation of FIFRA -- the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Storcide II contains the active ingredient, chlorpyrifos-methyl, and Actellic 5E contains the active ingredient, pirimiphos-methyl. According to the product label attached to Storcide II containers and Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) information accompanying this pesticide, it is toxic to fish, birds and wildlife.

Additionally, because the EPA requires precautionary language on labels for all products containing chlorpyrifos, those who worked directly with manufacturing the birdseeds should have known that use in birdseed was illegal, unless they were either illiterate or blind.

The EPA's fact sheet on pirimiphos-methyl states that "[a]lthough pirimiphos-methyl is highly toxic to birds and fish, these risks are not of concern based on the use pattern", indicating that this chemical is not intended to be applied to anything intentionally fed to birds.

Both chemical toxins act as cholinesterase inhibitors that result in overstimulation of the nervous system. Small doses of either poison cause symptoms that include nausea, dizziness, and confusion, and higher doses lead to respiratory paralysis and death."

A link that might be useful:

www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/mar/21/2?newsfeed=true