As part of the OECD's Pesticide Programme, a Workshop on Avian Toxicity Testing was held in Pensacola, Florida, on 4-7 December 1994. It was jointly organised by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and the OECD. This Workshop report considers the fundamental reasons information about the toxicity of chemicals to birds is needed, and thereby identify the critical features which are essential for the tests used to generate this information; evaluates the positive and negative features of existing test methods, and of proposed alternatives, against the required critical features; develops proposals for the revision and development of OECD Test Guidelines for avian toxicity and avoidance tests, as appropriate; and develops a framework to govern the way these tests are requested and used in practice in risk assessment.-- page 11 Executive Summary -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Testing for Acute Toxicity -- 3. Testing for Dietary Toxicity -- 4. Testing for Effects on Reproduction -- 5. Testing for Avoidance -- 6. Framework for the Use of Avian Tests in the Risk Assessment of Pesticides -- 7. Conclusions and RecommendationsAcknowledgements -- Annex 1 Workshop Participants -- Annex 2 Questionnaire: Request for Information and Opinions from Participants -- Annex 3 Summary of Responses to the Pre-Workshop Questionnaire: General Issues -- Annex 4 Comparison of Existing Avian Toxicity and Avoidance Tests -- Annex 5 Reading List -- OECD Environmental Health and Safety Publications