secondary poisoning

Anticoagulant rodenticide brodifacoum detected in dead nestlings of an insectivorous passerine

The anticoagulant rodenticide brodifacoum is widely used to eradicate invasive rats from islands for the protection and restoration of populations of native species. However, brodifacoum is also highly toxic to birds. We report the first apparent case of secondary brodifacoum exposure and subsequent poisoning in nestlings of an insectivorous passerine, the Stewart Island robin (Petroica australis rakiura). Thirteen dead nestlings were collected 3–4 months after brodifacoum bait was applied to eradicate rats from Ulva Island, New Zealand.