Mosquito season is upon us, and to many that means spraying pesticides to kill them. However, not only is spraying flying mosquitoes the most ineffective way to prevent mosquito problems, but it is also counterproductive because it eliminates some of our most attractive and helpful allies—birds.
While the appetite of purple martins for mosquitoes is well known, most songbirds eat insects at some stage of their life. Many birds who eat seeds or nectar feed insects to their young, including flying insects that may be bothersome–like mosquitoes or flies. Altogether, birds consume as many as 20 quadrillion individual insects, totaling 400-500 million metric tons, per year.
Mosquito-eating birds include many well-known residents of our communities. They include, for example, wood ducks, phoebes and other flycatchers, bluebirds, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, swallows, swifts, robins, orioles, wrens, great tits, warblers, nuthatches, hummingbirds, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, chickadees, sparrows, nighthawks, and even the much-maligned starlings. Attract these birds to keep mosquitoes from feasting on you.
On the other hand, insectivorous birds are threatened directly by pesticide use and indirectly by the loss of their prey. In 1962, Rachel Carson drew attention to the poisoning of songbirds in her book Silent Spring. Despite restrictions on the organochlorines used in 1962, over three billion birds, or 29% of 1970s numbers have been lost in North America over the last 50 years. Research shows that 57% of bird species are in decline, and mosquito-eating birds lead the list. Ninety percent of all declines were within 12 bird families including sparrows, warblers, blackbirds, larks, sparrows, swallows, nightjars, swifts, finches, flycatchers, starlings, and thrushes. Only waterfowl and wetland bird species show any increase.
Meanwhile, the world is experiencing an insect apocalypse. Recent research has found dramatic drops in overall insect abundance, with leading entomologists identifying steep declines in insect populations. Various studies have found reductions of up to a factor of 60 over the past 40 years—there were 60 times as many insects in some locations in the 1970s. Insect abundance has declined more than 75% over the last 29 years, according to research published by European scientists.
Insectivorous birds are an essential part of global food webs that bring balance to ecological communities, but birds are not the only insectivores to feed on mosquitoes. Animals who contribute to maintaining ecological balance by consuming mosquito larvae and adults include insects, spiders, fish, amphibians, and bats. All are threatened by pesticides.
(The state of Massachusetts' Department of Fish and Game, under the direction of the Governor, is currently developing Biodiversity Conservation Goals and environmentalists are asking that mosquito management be incorporated into their interagency effort.)
On a personal level, you can nurture a safe haven for birds and other mosquito predators. And remember there are safer personal repellents [see How To Repel Mosquitoes Safely]. Spread the word to your neighbors on safer mosquito management with Beyond Pesticides' doorknob hanger: Manage Mosquitoes This Season without Toxic Chemicals.
📣 Urge your state and community to adopt biodiversity conservation principles that include ecological mosquito management practices.
>> Tell your Governor and Mayor to ensure ecological mosquito management by eliminating the use of pesticides that threaten mosquito predators.
The targets for this Action are U.S. State Governors and U.S. Mayors/Vice Mayors if available.
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