As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 25 July 2014

Bird droppings can be mosquito busters!

IANS | Bangalore 
July 22, 2014 Last Updated at 15:10 IST


Don't get upset if birds mess up your courtyard or your home garden with their dropppings. These winged creatures may actually be helping to protect you and your family from dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Researchers at the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC) in Pondicherry have discovered that bird droppings contain certain bacteria that kill mosquitoes. They say they are now working to develop a formulation based on bird droppings for mosquito control.

"Mosquitocidal bacteria are environmental friendly alternatives to chemical insecticides," says their report published in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. "Therefore, there have been efforts worldwide to identify such bacteria from the natural environment," the report says.

Because wild birds consume food from a variety of environmental sources like soil, water, fruits and decaying animals, VCRC scientists decided to look for potential mosquito killing bacteria in the bird droppings.

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