My name is Emily Burak. I’m a 13-year-old student who loves birds. I’ve been watching birds for as long as I can remember and participating in programs like Project FeederWatch and Nestwatch. I live on a farm. Every spring, I eagerly await the return of the barn swallows to my yard. But every year, I’ve noticed that there are fewer barn swallows coming back. Why?

In my studies preparing for school visits, I learned that Canada has lost 80% of its barn swallow population since 1970. The major factor are chemicals called NEONICOTINOIDS. Neonicotinoids, more commonly known as neonics, are a synthetic form of nicotine. Used as an insecticide on the seeds of canola, corn, and all cereal crops, neonics are applied to seeds by a coating. When they enter an insect’s body, they attack the nervous system and cause paralysis, thereby killing the unfortunate bug. These chemicals are also dangerous to birds. If a bird the size of a Blue Jay eats ONE corn seed that’s coated with neonics, it will die. But barn swallows aren’t seed eaters; so how on earth would they get these detrimental chemicals into their bodies? Here’s how. Runoff fills the marshes, sloughs, ponds, and streams with these chemicals, and whenever mosquitoes and other bugs breed and hatch in those infected water sources, they have the neonics in their systems. It’s usually not enough to kill the bug, but when an infected bug goes flying around and a barn swallow catches and eats the bug, due to biological magnification, the bird gets sick from the chemicals. When barn swallows get sick from neonics, they stop eating and starve to death. In fact, I think this very thing happened to a barn swallow at my gramma’s house last week. My gramma has a pair of barn swallows that faithfully returns to her house every year and nests on her porch. One day, she came outside and found one of the barn swallows lying on his back on the deck. He staggered to his feet, went off into the grass, and died. He looked very scruffy and rundown. The sad thing is that his mate spent the rest of the day sitting silently on the edge of the nest, looking very sick and rundown herself. She has a nest full of eggs, and when her babies hatch, since she has to try and feed them all alone, they’re not going to survive.

That’s one of the main reasons why we’re losing our barn swallows.

Barn swallows are very important to our environment. A healthy adult barn swallow can eat up to 850 mosquitoes a day! A pair of barn swallows can have 4-6 chicks in a nest during nesting season, and you can imagine how many mosquitoes they’re eating. If you don’t like the barn swallows nesting on your house, you can nail a board or piece of cardboard under the nest to catch whatever falls out of the nest. Having barn swallows around is very important, so if they come to your house, asking to nest on it in return for catching all those pesky mosquitoes, please don’t discourage them.

Neonics are not only harming barn swallows, but they’re harming all other insect eating birds. Since 1970, the Canada Warbler population has decreased by 70%. Mourning Doves are also suffering from these chemicals. My main concern is the barn swallows, but if we could get the use of neonics banned in Canada- or North America- we could save some of our important insect eating birds (and our bees). The European Union got a ban, so why can’t we?

Thanks for reading and signing.

Emily Burak