The first large-scale study to investigate the impact on bird populations from the 2018 European Union ban on a universal insecticide has determined that birds have recovered as much as 3% since 2018.

Given that 57 species of birds were included in the survey, the 3% rise suddenly seems a lot more meaningful, and the scientists behind the study are confidant that the ban is positively affecting their populations.

The insecticide in question is a class of chemical called neonicotinoids, which are sprayed on crops and absorbed into the plants’ leaves where they render them effectively toxic to insects that like to munch on them.

Introduced to the EU the 1990s, mass die-offs of bees were reported in France in the early 2000s, and by the following decade, there was major pressure to impleme

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