Organochlorine Residues in Great Blue Herons from the Northwestern United States

Fitzner, R.E.; Blus, Lawrence J.; Henny, Charles J.; Carlile, D.W.

doi:10.2307/1521011

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The same has been found for herons and egrets (Findholt & Trost 1985, Fitzner et al 1988. At present it is neither known where the populations of Little Terns breeding in the Axios Delta over winter nor their migration routes.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

“…As suggested in these studies, such DDE concentrations had no effect on eggshell thickness or breeding performance. Much higher concentrations have been detected by Boardman (1988, in Hothem & Zador (1995) in Venice Beach California, ranging from 4.5-23.0 µg/g with a mean of 9.99 µg/g. In an earlier study in Orange County, California, Massey (1971 in Blus & Prouty (1978)) reported concentrations of 6-41 µg/g which according to Blus & Prouty (1978) could have adverse reproductive effects on the reproduction of the Least Tern.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

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Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Eggs of the Little Tern ( Sterna albifrons ) in the Axios Delta, Greece

Goutner

Charalambidou

Albanis

1997

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Eggs of the Little Tern ( Sterna albifrons ) in the Axios Delta, Greece

Goutner

Charalambidou

Albanis

1997

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

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“…Fitzner et al (1988) found that levels as high as 26 ppm (DDE) and 13 ppm (PCBs) wet weight, respectively, exerted little influence on reproductive success of great blue herons Ardea herodias, and other studies (e.g., Connors et al 1975;Custer et al 1986;Furness et al 1989) have found heron reproduction not to be inhibited by apparently high availability of contaminants. Henny et al (1984) found that a few young were still produced even at egg levels Ͼ25 ppm.…”

Section: Organochlorines and Pcbsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Heavy Metal, Organochlorine Pesticide, and PCB Residues in Eggs and Feathers of Herons Breeding in Northern Italy

Fasola

Movalli

Gandini

1998

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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We report on organochlorine pesticide and PCB concentrations in eggs of the little egret, Egretta garzetta, and the black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, collected in 1993-1994, and on mercury, cadmium, and lead concentrations in feathers of 20-day-old nestlings collected from the same nests in 1994, from heronries near Pavia, northern Italy. Organochlorine pesticide and PCB residues were lower than those commonly associated with mortality and reduced reproductive success. As population levels of the species studied are not declining, these contaminants appear to have no significant adverse effect on reproduction in the heronries studied. DDE levels have decreased markedly in heron eggs since 1978. However, the presence of both DDT and beta-HCH, albeit at low levels, is notable, given that these compounds were banned in Italy in 1978 and 1988, respectively. Relatively high levels of Hg, Cd, and Pb in feathers suggest birds in their colonies are exposed to these contaminants, although both Cd and Pb may relate more to external than to internal contamination.

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“…Only eggshell fragments that were large enough to allow measurements at mid circumference were measured. Eggshell thickness was measured in millimeters at three places on each shell using a ball-micrometer after drying the eggshell fragments at room temperature for 1 month (Fitzner et al, 1988). Dried embryonic membranes were missing from most eggshells at the time of collection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other sources of metals to the Columbia River include more than a century of mining and smelting of metal-bearing rock at sites in the upstream watershed (Johnson, 1999). Herons, cormorants, pelicans, egrets, and other fish-eating birds accumulate body burdens of toxic chemicals from contaminated aquatic habitats and are species at potential risk from metal contamination (Peterson, 1969;Gochfeld, 1975;Fitzner et al, 1982Fitzner et al, , 1988Goede, 1985;Thompson et al, 1992;Becker et al, 1998;Halbrook et al, 1999;Eisler, 2000;Henny et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal Concentrations, Foraging Distances, and Fledging Success of Great Blue Herons Nesting along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River

Tiller¹,

Marco²,

Rickard³

2005

Environ Monit Assess

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An ecological risk assessment of the spatial distribution of metal concentrations along the Hanford Reach of the free-flowing Columbia River in southcentral Washington, identified great blue herons, Ardea herodias, at potential risk through the ingestion of contaminated riverine biota, especially fish. We measured metal concentrations in livers of pre-flight herons from the Hanford Reach and excrement samples taken from the same nests. Nests were distributed among three colonies situated upstream and downstream from nine retired plutonium production reactors along the river where metals in reactor coolant waters had been released directly into the river or disposed to shoreline retention basins and ditches. Distances traveled by parent herons to foraging areas along the river shore were determined by visually tracking parent birds as they flew from nests to upriver and downriver foraging sites. Foraging flight distances varied between colonies with mean distances ranging between 0.7 and 3.1 km. Cadmium, Cr, and Pb concentrations were higher in excrement than in the livers of pre-flight herons but the opposite was noted for Cu, Hg, and Zn. Highest metal concentrations of Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, were measured in excrement taken from heron nests at the colony located upstream from all reactors. These results were consistent with metal concentrations reported in river sediment from the same regions, indicating excrement from the heron nests may be a useful indicator of dietary uptake of metals by herons. Fledging success and eggshell thickness measurements were used as an index of health of the local heron population. The results indicate that the reproductive health of great blue herons nesting along the Hanford Reach is among the highest reported in the continental United States.

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Organochlorine Residues in Great Blue Herons from the Northwestern United States

Cited by 32 publications

References 10 publications

Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Eggs of the Little Tern ( Sterna albifrons ) in the Axios Delta, Greece

Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Eggs of the Little Tern ( Sterna albifrons ) in the Axios Delta, Greece

Heavy Metal, Organochlorine Pesticide, and PCB Residues in Eggs and Feathers of Herons Breeding in Northern Italy

Metal Concentrations, Foraging Distances, and Fledging Success of Great Blue Herons Nesting along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River

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