Blog Post Image: Is Self-Fumigation for the Birds?

University of Utah biology professor Dale Clayton and doctoral student Sarah Knutie conducted a study showing that finches in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands will collect cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide and use them to build their nests, killing parasitic fly maggots that often kill baby birds. Here, Knutie holds one of the cotton dispensers. The method might provide a way to help protect threatened or endangered finches, other birds and even small mammals. Photo Credit: Nick Steffens, University of Utah Marketing and Communications