English

The hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), an iconic bird of prey, is heading towards the brink of extinction in England, new figures suggest. There are just four breeding pairs left in England and numbers are declining elsewhere in the UK. Scotland is the traditional stronghold of these raptors, but numbers have fallen 9% since 2010. Numbers in England fell from twelve pairs in 2010 to just four in 2016.

More must be urgently done to protect Switzerland’s drinking water, according the Swiss water and gas industry association (SSIGE). One fifth of drinking water samples analysed by the national underground water testing organisation (NAQUA), contained levels of pesticides and nitrates above acceptable levels. And 30% of measurement points, contained very high levels. The highest concentrations were found in underground water, which supplies 80% of Swiss drinking water, mainly in areas with intensive agriculture.

The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) probably had a global population of over 100,000 in the early 20th century; in the 1930s an estimated 50,000 wintered on the Caspian Sea. However, by 1991 the population was estimated at a mere 19,000 ducks. Over the last 100 years the white-headed duck has become extinct as a breeding bird in Albania, Azerbaijan, Corsica, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, and former Yugoslavia. Despite the historical declines, however, there was some optimism in 1991, since the population was thought to be relatively stable. Since 1991 that optimism has faded.

Higher-than-normal levels of pesticides have been found in 20% of the nation’s drinking water supplies from groundwater, prompting industry calls for tougher action to cut the costs of treating the water. A fifth of the samples seen in national monitoring data contained pesticide levels higher than the acceptable limit of 0.1 microgram (0.001 milligram) per liter. Some measurement points even exceeded 70%, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported on Sunday. “There is a need for action,” said Martin Sager, director of the Swiss Gas and Water Industry Association.

Some people class herring gulls as ’vermin’, not least because they can be aggressive towards humans when they are protecting their young, and, as anyone trying to eat an ice-cream on Peel Promenade will testify, they will dive-bomb remorselessly in order to steal food. But because these super-intelligent birds are such efficient scavengers, eating pretty much anything, they help to keep our towns and beaches clean. You might think that herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are everywhere, and that there are too many of them.

With 165,000 described species worldwide, moths are among the most diverse and successful organisms on Earth. Let's begin by distinguishing moths from butterflies. Butterflies have club-like knobs on the ends of their antennae and usually perch with their wings held upwards. Moths, on the other hand, tend to perch with their wings outspread and have antennae that closely resemble bird feathers. Both moths and butterflies make a protective covering for the pupal stage of development.

Every year toward the beginning of rainy season, dense clouds of black salt marsh mosquitoes begin rising from the Everglades and coastal wetlands and descending upon Miami. For years, Miami and the Keys have fought back with a powerful tool: permethrin, a pesticide effective at killing the insects before they can make life miserable for South Florida.

A week-long survey, conducted throughout the country to count the number of Weaver Baya (Ploceus philippinus), did not find a single bird in Delhi and the areas around it. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), an NGO involved in conservation and biodiversity research, conducted the bird monitoring programme. The bird watcher spotted only 880 individual Baya throughout the country between June 4 and 10.

On May 25, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of ecological risk assessments for four neonicotinoid active ingredients for public comment as well as the Registration Review Update for Four Neonicotinoid Insecticides (Update). 82 Fed. Reg. 24113. The ecological risk assessments are:

Neonicotinoid are the most commonly used class of insecticides. Between 2005 and 2010 neonicotinoid use in the USA and UK more than doubled. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar trends exist in New Zealand, where neonicotinoid seed coatings are now often applied prophylactically in contravention of the principles of Integrated Pest Management. This widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides is controversial due to a lack of understanding about their persistence in the environment and the long-term consequences of their use.