posted 06-04-2001 02:31 PM            

DELMAR - In the fever to test for the West Nile Virus, post-mortems on up to 250 birds a day have uncovered a surprise: More birds are dying of pesticides, herbicides and lead.

"There are all kinds of side benefits to the West Nile look," said state wildlife pathologist Ward Stone. "West Nile isn't going to be growing in numbers, but these other numbers will continue to grow."

In the state fiscal year ended March 31, the basement laboratory in the Five Rivers Environmental Center outside Albany identified 1,263 birds carrying West Nile Virus.

During the same time, 1,953 birds were identified as dying of toxins from pesticides like Dursban, a chemical banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Diazinon, which the EPA ordered taken off the market in two years. Lead poisoning is often from the birds eating prey that ingested fishing sinkers or carrion killed by lead shot or pellets.

Stone said some are cases in which chemicals were overused on lawns and in buildings, some are intentional poisonings, but many are the result of birds eating smaller prey with high levels of the material.

"I was rocked," said Audubon New York's William Cooke of Stone's findings. "I had no idea. I don't think anyone did."

Audubon New York, with 52,000 members, plans radio public service announcements and a public education program this summer as a result of the data. Cooke urges people to continue to report all dead birds through a toll-free state number (866-537-2473) to keep tracking West Nile incidents as well as deaths from toxins.

"If they're whacking birds, I think it's reasonable to assume they're doing a job on butterflies and others," Cooke said. "What is it doing to our kids?"

Allen James, president of the national chemical association Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, said his group is "sad to hear some applications are improperly used."

"There are certain pesticide products if improperly used could cause the death of a bird," he said.

But James added that the producers of chemicals targeting pests, weeds and rodents use labels with instructions on the safe application of safe doses. In addition, the industry in recent years has developed products of certain color, size and texture that make them unattractive to birds. Indoors, products are being made that can be applied away from people and animals without becoming airborne.

James also warned that science can detect small amounts of chemicals now, and that detection doesn't necessarily mean the product was lethal.

"The technology of pesticides is improving dramatically," he said. "And there are extreme limits to how these products are used now."

In New York, the rising trend in toxic deaths is taking ecologically important species like crows, pigeons and vultures, as well as protected and popular birds such as starlings, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks and loons, as well as the bald eagle that recently made Stone's metal table.

It was found near death in the Dutchess County town of Pine Plains at a hunt club. The large adult male vomited everything rehabilitators fed it. The eagle, part of an extraordinary Hudson Valley comeback of the nation's symbol, died extremely dehydrated with feces and bile staining its plumage. The liver had 31 parts per million of lead, more than four times the lethal level, according to the May 30 report.

The report was one of 10 final determinations made at the lab in three days of death by toxins. They included a great horned owl found in the Ulster County town of Bearsville with high levels of chemicals used to kill rodents.

West Nile testing also led to the May 7 determination that a blue jay found dead on a North Hempstead lawn on Long Island died from poisoning by Chlordane. That pesticide used against termites and lawn insects was also blamed for the death of a Cooper's hawk in Syracuse in August. West Nile testing also identified a new form of botulism that killed hundreds of birds from Lake Erie.

"It's more than ever, and it's increasing," Stone said. "The problem is statewide."<<<<<<