Analysis shows small hike in populations of insect-eating species after 2018 ruling, but full recovery may take decades

Insect-eating bird populations in France appear to be making a tentative recovery after a ban on bee-harming pesticides, according to the first study to examine how wildlife is returning in Europe.

Neonicotinoids are the world’s most common class of insecticides, widely used in agriculture and for flea control in pets. By 2022, four years after the European Union banned neonicotinoid use in fields, researchers observed that France’s population of insect-eating birds had increased by 2%-3%. These included blackbirds, blackcaps and chaffinches, which feed on insects as adults and as chicks.

Study estimates 53,000 females have died on South Georgia since 2023, with ‘dramatic impact’ on future of the species

Bird flu has wiped out half of South Georgia’s breeding elephant seals, according to a study that warns of “serious implications” for the future of the species.

The remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean is home to the world’s largest southern elephant seal population. Researchers estimate 53,000 females died after bird flu hit in 2023.