Characterization analysis of wild bird poisoning cases through spraying seeds artificially contaminated with pesticides

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of wild birds fell victim to pesticides poisoning in South Korea. The main outbreak of pesticide poisoning intensively occurred in winter, when food is rapidly reduced, and hungry birds easily fell victim to food contaminated with pesticides, resulting in ecologically fatal mass mortality. From 2017 to 2018 in South Korea, 1379 wild birds fell victim to pesticide poisoning. In detail, 832 (60.33%) waterfowls such as Baikal teals, and 547 (39.67%) forest birds such as brown-eared bulbuls died. The major pesticides identified in wild birds died of acute pesticide poisoning were carbofuran, monocrotophos and phosphamidon. Taken together, it is pesticide poisoning caused by artificially spraying rice seeds contaminated with pesticides that gives rise to mass death of wild birds in winter in South Korea, and continuous public education and dedicated institutions are needed to prevent this accident.