MORTALITY OF BIRDS OF PREY FOLLOWING FIELD APPLICATION OF GRANULAR CARBOFURAN - A CASE-STUDY

The death of buzzards (Buteo buteo) found in fodder and sugar beet fie lds treated with granular carbofuran was investigated. To determine if there was a causal relationship between carbofuran treatment and bird mortality, earthworms of a specific fodder beet field as well as the crop contents of dead buzzards were analyzed for carbofuran contaminat ion. Earthworms of the fodder beet field contained carbofuran concentr ations up to 3.2 mg/kg, while remains of earthworms and carbofuran wer e detected in all buzzard crop contents. The carbofuran concentrations found in the earthworms as well as in the crops of the buzzards corro borate the suspicion that the buzzards found on fodder and sugar beet fields treated with granular carbofuran had died of secondary poisonin g with carbofuran via contaminated earthworms.