Scientists In Israel, Jordan, West Bank Trying To Expand Use Of Owls As Substitute For Rodent Poison

[hatrack]

Owls and kestrels are being employed as agricultural pest controllers in the Middle East. Many farmers are installing nest boxes to encourage the birds, which hunt the crop-damaging rodents.

In Israel, where there is a drive to reduce the use of toxic chemical pesticides, this has been turned into a government-funded national programme. Jordanian and Palestinian scientists and conservation charities have joined the scheme.

According to the charity BirdLife International, hundreds of birds of prey - including many endangered species - have been killed in the region through eating rodents containing poisonous "rodenticides" sprayed on to crop fields. But scientists in Israel are now working with farmers to combat this problem - deploying the birds as natural pest controllers. "There is a real need to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture here," said Motti Charter, a researcher from Tel Aviv University and team leader of the Global Owl Project in Israel.

"Many farmers think that chemicals are their only option. They use very large amounts of them - spraying them on to their fields from planes," said Mr Charter. "We have been reaching out to the farmers, to encourage them to reduce their use of rodenticides and install nest boxes instead."

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8004426.stm