Birds face many man-made mortal threats: windows, cats…

Birds face many man-made mortal threats: windows, cats, habitat 1 , even climate change. And now, there's poison—in their bird seed. You see the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company had been in the habit of applying banned 2 to its wild bird food products. In particular, the company applied a chemical known as Storcide II to its bird food despite a warning label for that product that reads "Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and 3 to birds and other wildlife."Why add a compound toxic to birds to food meant to be eaten by birds? Because Scott didn't want bugs infesting its bird food during 4 . By the time Scotts stopped adding the pesticide in March 2008, the company had sold some 70 million bags of adulterated bird food. The company also 5 false documents to the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, distributed pesticides with misleading labels and distributed illegal pesticides. As a result, the EPA slapped the company with $12.5 million in criminal fines and civil 6 . So when you put out new bird seed this winter, at least you won't be inadvertently poisoning any chirpers. Oh, and keep those cats inside, too.