Op-Ed: Israeli scientist uses owls instead of pesticides

Israeli scientist are recommending farmers to use owls and kestrels instead of pesticide to control rodents. They want to reduce the use of toxic pesticides in farms.

This is a win-win situation for the farmers as well as owls and kestrels. Previously, rodents were killed by the toxic pesticides and the birds that ate the dead rodents died as well after ingesting the poison inside rodent’s body. According to BirdLife International, hundreds of birds including endangered species have been killed because of the use of poisonous pesticides. Now the researchers have suggested a natural way to kill rodents with the use of owls and kestrels near the farms by building nests for the natural pest controllers. Motti Charter, researcher from the Tel Aviv University and team leader of the Global Owl Project in Israel, told BBC:

"There is a real need to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture here. Many farmers think that chemicals are their only option. They use very large amounts of them - spraying them on to their fields from planes."

Charter recommended to the farmers to install nest boxes for the birds instead of using pesticides. The Israeli government is implementing this scheme across the country. Jordanian and Palestinian scientists and charities have also joined in to implement this scheme. The scheme was originally launched in 1983 when some nesting boxes were placed near a kibbutz or farming village in the Bet-She’an Valley. Initially they used owls and later started to using kestrels also. The use of owls and kestrels serves dual purpose, the kestrels hunt during the day and owls hunt during the night according to Charter. Charter said because of the use of these birds, there has been less crop damage in the area. According to the World Owl Trust, sponsors of Charter’s research, there are about 1,000 barn owl nest boxes across the country. Charter added that barn owls are not territorial like other species of owls found in Europe; they can place nest boxes close to each other.

"The birds will nest wherever there is food and a suitable habitat. They don't know the national boundaries."