Cliff Swallow needs Flock; Pesticide-laden Wild Bird Food
The California WIldlife Center in Malibu is urgently looking for a flock of Cliff Swallows that have not yet migrated south, in order to release a rehabbed bird to join them. If there are any sightings of cliff swallows, please notify them right away at 818-591-9453.
[Submitted by Monica Minden, volunteer at CWC]
[Note - I called them, suggesting checking Malibu Civic Center & lagoon to see if any Cliff Swallows were still around. Chukar.]
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday slapped $12.5 million in fines and penalties on Scotts Miracle-Gro after the company admitted it had added pesticides to its wild bird food in order to protect the product while in storage. The EPA stated that, in an earlier plea deal, Scotts acknowledged the pesticides Actellic 5E and Storcide II were applied even though EPA had prohibited their use for that.
“Scotts admitted that it used these pesticides contrary to EPA directives and in spite of the warning label appearing on all Storicide II containers stating, ‘Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife’,” said the EPA. [More on the website.]
[From NBC News.com, by Miguel Llanos, 9/7/12]
[Chuck Almdale]
It seems that most times I’m at LA River near the bridges in down town LA I see a lot of cliff swallows.