Crows Poisoned With Pesticide Avitrol, Audubon Society Says

PORTLAND, OR — Children and adults watched in horror late this past January as crows, suffering from apparent seizures, began falling from the sky in Northeast Portland, leaving scattered carcasses across several blocks.

At least 20 crows — maybe more — were killed Jan. 30 in what the Audubon Society of Portland is calling an intentional and likely illegal act of poisoning.

In an announcement made March 5, Audubon Conservation Director Bob Sallinger said the Oregon State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) recently confirmed the crows were in fact poisoned with the neurotoxin 4-aminopyridine, which — when used in humans can manage symptoms of multiple sclerosis — is also used as .5 to 1 percent of the bird control bait Avitrol.

While marketed as a pest control product used to disperse problematic bird populations, Avitrol — a restricted-use pesticide — can also be deadly depending on the dosage used; and when Avitrol is fatal, according to Sallinger, the deaths are horrific.

On its website, Avitrol states its product will cause epileptic-like seizures in birds that consume the poison, which will ostensibly drive away other birds. Some animal advocacy groups, however, claim the seizing birds will actually draw others in.

Used responsibly, Avitrol can be an effective way to solve a bird pest problem. But in this case, whomever poisoned the crows in Northeast Portland was "incredibly irresponsible," Sallinger said.

"This is a situation where the birds were baited and poisoned," Sallinger told Patch Wednesday, acknowledging that's what Avitrol is marketed for. "But the person using the product must be a licensed pesticide applicator and use the product in a contained manner; they're supposed to collect the carcasses."

"The label requires that 'people (other than authorized handlers) and pets must be kept away from treated bait and dead and dying birds at all times. Only protected handlers may be in the area during the bait application and until all dead birds and unused bait is retrieved,'" he explained.

Whomever poisoned the crows Jan. 30 did not follow up as required.

"It scared the hell out of the community and left poisoned carcasses all over the landscape," Sallinger said. "Poisoning is not an effective bird control solution and people are outraged."

Comments on the Portland Audubon Society's Facebook page confirms Sallinger's assessment. Its post announcing the poison discovery garnered more than 30 comments and nearly 200 shares in the two hours after it was posted just before 10 a.m. Wednesday, with most the commenters calling for quick and severe judicial action.

Four years ago, in the winter of 2014, a similar incident occurred in downtown Portland, Sallinger said, when numerous birds fell from the sky. Avitrol was found to have been the poison responsible in that case as well, though no person was ever caught.

Sallinger said other incidents over the years have been suspected to involve Avitrol, though nothing else was ever confirmed.

The problem with the poison, aside from the inhumane death it brings to the crows, is that it could spread to any scavenger animal that eats the dead and dying birds.

According to Sallinger:

The EPA specifies the 'birds that die as a result of application must be disposed of by burial or incineration in order to minimize secondary poisoning to predatory species. In order to mitigate risk to predatory species, the authorized handler must not leave the site until all dead or dying birds and unused bait are retrieved from the site.'

Hawks, raccoons, and other wild scavengers could also become victims of the poison when it's not used appropriately, Sallinger said.

"I don't know anyone who isn't concerned about poisoned animals scattered across the city," he said. "It was an utterly inappropriate response (to the perceived crow problem)."

Incredibly social birds, and thought to be among the smartest animals on the planet, crows are an annual fixture around the Portland metro region. And while their calls can be noisy and their excrement a real drag when it lands on you or your car, the birds are generally well enjoyed by both bird lovers and community members when they come to town, Sallinger said.

"People who call and ask questions about the crows are generally positive," he said. "This is a community that appreciates wildlife, though there are still complications."

To disperse crow populations humanely, Portland officials have hired falconers to chase the birds out of the downtown area, Sallinger said.

By irresponsibly administering an extremely toxic substance to an unmanaged number of crows, however, the person responsible likely violated at least two federal laws, he said: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the MBTA "makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations."

And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains that FIFRA "provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. All pesticides distributed or sold in the United States must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Before EPA may register a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show, among other things, that using the pesticide according to specifications 'will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment,'" such as creating an unreasonable risk to humans or the environment.

In response to the ODFW announcement this week, the Audubon Society of Portland has offered a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to prosecution of the individual responsible for the poisoning of crows.

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The Bunny World Foundation, a Los Angeles-based non-profit dedicated to animal conservancy, shared a video on its YouTube channel purportedly depicting the real effects of Avitrol in a pigeon that is said to have consumed the poison.

Image via Heath Parsons/Audubon Society of Portland