Nelson community garden birds die after eating suspected poisoned grain

More than 100 birds have died at a Nelson community garden after eating what volunteers believe was poisonous grain put into its composting bins.

Waimarama Community Organic Gardens co-ordinator Sally Rees said a member of the public was walking through the gardens at the weekend when they noticed a large number of dead birds on the ground.

When volunteers arrived at the garden on Monday, Rees said they came across a “gruesome” scene.

“The birds kept falling out of the sky, some of them dead, some of them not dead,” Rees said.

“We have seven chooks in a nice chook pen, and one of them was found half-dead yesterday morning.”

Seven bird nests were also found on the ground.

Volunteers found more than 100 dead birds after a weekend walk-through. Photo / Supplied

“[It’s] very sad, and just incredulous really,” Rees said.

She said volunteers came in over the weekend to build compost and layer it with mulch.

“As soon as they’ve gone, all the lovely sparrows come in and have a feed.”

But handfuls of what Rees described as wheat or dried corn kernels were dumped on the cages and eaten by the birds, leading to the suspected poisoning.

The garden, set to celebrate its 30th anniversary in July, is home to sparrows, grey warblers, finches, chickens and blackbirds.

There are 43 plots that community members can rent to grow their own vegetables.

Suspected poisoned grain was found dumped on compost cages where birds fed. Photo / Supplied

A Biosecurity New Zealand spokesperson said that, from what they had been told of the incident, it appeared the birds had been poisoned.

“Biosecurity New Zealand’s role is to rule out exotic and emerging infectious disease as a cause for death,” the spokesperson said.

“Samples are being sent to our specialist laboratory, and the birds will be swabbed.

“We don’t test for other causes; however, from what we have been told, it has the appearance of a poisoning event.”

Samples from the dead birds are being tested at a specialist lab. Photo / Supplied

Nelson City Council manager of operations delivery Eddie Powick said the council was “saddened” to hear about the bird deaths.

“[We] want to acknowledge how distressing this would be for the volunteers and community who care about this space,” Powick said.

“Staff from our parks team were notified by the volunteer co-ordinator of the community gardens, and we have arranged for contractors to assist with the removal of the deceased birds.

“As a precaution, we encourage pet owners in the area to keep animals away from the gardens while the cause is being investigated.”

Nelson City Council owns the land on Tantragee Rd, where the community gardens operate under a licence to occupy.