Restricted pesticide is bird killer
Submitted by Chickowee on 12 Mar 2014.
A restricted insecticide has been found to be the cause of a mass poisoning of hundreds of native birds near Dubbo in central west NSW.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has investigated the deaths since they were first reported on the Talbragar River in the Troy Reserve area more than a week ago.
On Tuesday, tests carried out on dead birds found the insecticide fenthion to be the likely cause of death.
Fenthion is commonly used to eradicate fruit flies and non-native bird pests.
It has been heavily restricted in the fruit industry since late 2013.
