Abstract. Avian hematocrit can be used to monitor the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during the aftermath of oil spills and their cleanup. Exposure to PAHs can result in a rapid and dramatic drop in hematocrit. Some baseline hematocrit data has been reported for waterbirds before and during coastline spills, but the equivalent baseline hematocrit data does not exist for monitoring land-based spills affecting migratory and resident songbirds. In this study, blood samples were taken from 310 North American migratory birds on their wintering grounds in The Bahamas and Panama. Hematocrit was measured in 20 species of passerines and near passerines plus one shorebird species. The results show that hematocrit values rose prior to northbound migration in mid-March to midApril when samples were compared to those taken in January. Among those species able to be reliably sexed by plumage, increases in hematocrit were found only in males. Hematocrit samples from 8 neo-tropical species and one avian family met new guidelines for determining reference intervals as published by The American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathologists. This study establishes hematocrit baseline values for a portion of the annual cycle of these neo-tropical migrant species and explains how monitoring changes in hematocrit after polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure can be used to determine injury and possible recovery after an oil spill.Keywords. Hemolytic anemia, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, avian hematocrit, reference intervals, neotropical birds, Arenaria, Paridae 1 Introduction
BackgroundAmong serious threats to the health of avian populations is hemolytic anemia from oil spills (Leighton et al., 1983). Exposure to oil is by preening and ingestion of contaminated prey items and by inhalation of related toxic substances. Spills occur both on land and along waterways from rail cars, pipeline ruptures and unintentional releases from storage facilities. Migratory birds are vulnerable to this and other threats in any portion of their annual cycle. On land, the United States Department of Transportation Pipelines and Materials Safety Administration reports that more than 110 million gallons of oil and petroleum products have spilled from over 5600 pipeline ruptures in 47 states since 1990, with spills in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana accounting for around half of that volume (PHMSA Pipeline Safety, Data & Reports). In May 2017, 94,000 gallons of jet fuel were spilled from a Navy storage facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia (usnews.com May 12, 2017). In the Virginia Beach incident, a small number of birds were collected as dead specimens, yet injury to avians from this and other spills is largely undetermined. Effects on waterbirds from coastal spills are somewhat better understood. Leighton et al. (1983) determined that the primary effect on birds from ingesting oil was hemolytic anemia. Herring gulls and puffins experimentally dosed with crude oil showed a dramatic drop in hematocrit, at some dosages, after four days. A subs...