Do birds take bait designed for pest control?

Overall effectiveness category Evidence not assessed
Number of studies: 2
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

If non-target species take poison bait designed for problematic species control then extra care will be needed during control programmes, for example, the use of bait feeders, repellents or dyed bait (see interventions below).

Study locations

Key messages

Two studies, one randomised, replicated and controlled, from New Zealand and Australia found no evidence that birds took bait meant for pest control.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after study on Breaksea Island (170 ha), South Island, New Zealand (Taylor & Thomas 1993) found that there was no significant difference in the number of South Island robins Petroica australis australis counted in 1987, prior to a rat eradication campaign, compared to after the eradication of rats in 1988 and 1989 (130 robins in 1987, 127 and 129 in 1988 and 1989 respectively; 192 birds counted at 133 bait stations in 1988, 194 at 140 stations in 1989). Rats were eradicated using brodifacoum baits in both briquettes and plastic bags. The lack of change in the robin population implies that birds were not adversely affected by the poisoning and did not take the bait.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Taylor R.H. & Thomas B.W. (1993) Rats eradicated from rugged Breaksea Island (170 ha), Fiordland, New Zealand. Biological Conservation, 65, 191-198.
A randomised, replicated and controlled study over eight days in Adelaide Zoo, Australia (Johnston & McCarthy 2007), found that eight bush stone-curlews did not consume untreated bait (consisting of 50-100g pieces of sun-dried horsemeat and dried oats) when also provided with their normal food (consisting of beef mince, fruit and ‘Woombaroo insectivore mix’ – a commercially available feed mix), which they continued to eat.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Johnston G. & McCarthy P. (2007) Susceptibility of Bush Stone-curlews (Burhinus grallarius) to sodium fluoroacetate (1080) poisoning. Emu, 107, 69-73.

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Use coloured baits to reduce accidental mortality during predator control Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	3	Synopsis Link
Use repellents on baits for predator control Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	2	Synopsis Link
Do birds take bait designed for pest control? Action Link	Evidence not assessed	2	Synopsis Link