Experts call for restrictions on pet flea treatments that harm UK songbirds

The blue tit was one of the UK birds whose feathers were tested by scientists at the University of Sussex. Photograph: supplied

Conservationists have called for restrictions on pet flea treatments after research found songbird feathers widely contaminated with substances that can damage the birds’ brains and kill unborn chicks.

Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil – all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments.