Our Poisons Page

There seem to be two types of chemical bird deterrents in use. The first falls under our bad category, and these are chemical deterrents that are said to be biodegradable and non poisonous. The information found suggests that these are sprayed onto crops and leave some sort of residue or taste that birds do not like. The second, in the ugly category, is poisons, used to indiscriminately kill birds.

A Michigan State site, http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modwl/11209802.html goes into the details about using repellents and poisons. Check it out. It mentions these two types, ReJex-iT (methyl anthranilate) and something called Hinder .

Transport Canada, of course is into all sorts of chemicals and poisons. http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/aerodrme/birdstke/manual/i/i6.htm

And you should read what Alberta says about poisons to control starlings. This article relates more to areas around livestock barns, but what's stopping a crop grower from using the same approach for starlings? http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/600/685-6.html

Fortunately there is some sanity in our country, as the province of BC makes no mention of using poisons or chemicals and The Ontario Dept. of Agriculture has an environmentally friendly outlook as well, as follows: " Over the years, many chemical bird repellents have come and gone, partly due to lack of effectiveness, but also because of adverse health side-effects. At present, there are no effective, food grade chemical bird repellents registered for use in Canada. Research and field tests on a new formulation using grape flavour extracts as the active ingredient are being undertaken in the USA. Findings to date have shown that this product will not be acceptable on wine grapes due to residual flavours in the wine which arise during the fermentation process."
http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/98-035.htm#top

Lets hope that the Michigan and Alberta sites are outdated?