CBC News: Bee-harming pesticides make migrating songbirds sick too, study shows

Controversial neonicotinoid pesticides have been shown to threaten bees and other pollinators, prompting Europe and Canada to tighten regulations. 

Now a new study shows they can also directly harm seed-eating birds that migrate during spring planting season.

White-crowned sparrows that ate a tiny dose of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid — equivalent to a just a few coated seeds and far below the lethal dose — lost their appetite, quickly lost weight at a time when they should be fattening up and delayed their migration to their breeding ground by several days, report researchers at the University of Saskatchewan and York University in the journal Science.

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