The mineral profile of plumage in captive lesser snow geese

Abstract

KELSALL, J. P., and W. J. PANNEKOEK. 1976. The mineral profile of plumage in captive lesser snow geese. Can. J. This is a contribution to a larger study aimed at development of a technique to determine the origins of waterfowl from their feather chemistry. Results are reported of an experiment designed to show whether there were differences in the mineral profile between primary feathers one-half to two-thirds grown and fully formed feathers, within a population of captive lesser snow geese. Primaries 1 and 10 were used as sample materials and the elements Na, Ca, K, Fe, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, and Si were used as variables. Statistically significant differences were shown between stages of growth in respect to all variables except Cu and Zn. The experiment also showed significant differences between different primary feathers in respect to all variables, and some differences attributable to the sex of birds from which samples were taken. KELSALL, J. P., et W. J. PANNEKOEK. 1976. The mineral profile of plumage in captive lesser snow geese. Can. J. Zool. 54: 301-305. Cet article fait partie d'une Ctude d'enverpure destinke b mettre ail point une technique visant h determiner les origines des oiseat~x aqtrdtiques d'aprk la nature chimique de leur plumage. On donne ~c i k s rkultats d'une experience stir des petltes oies blanches par laquellr on a voulu cnnstater s'il existe ou non des difference5 de profil rnin6ral entre des remiges primaires ayant atteint de la moitii aux deux tierr de leur dkvelopprnenl et der plumes adultes. On a util~sb $ cette fin ley rkmiges primaires 1 et 10 el les ilementq Na. Ca, K. Fe. Crr, Mn, Mg. Zn et Si ont servi dc vartahles. II existe des differences s~gnificatives entre les divers starles de cmissance dans Ie cas de routes le9 variables, sauf Cu et Zn. t'expbrience a d i m o n t e tgalemenr qu'il existe d e~ d~f l~t e n c e s~ignificativcs. dans le cas de toutes ler variables, entre ies differentes remiges prlmaires: il cxiste aussi des differences attrihuabler au sexc des oiseaux don1 un a examink les plumes.[Traduit par le journal]

Flaws and pitfalls in the chemical analysis of feathers: bad news–good news for avian chemoecology and toxicology

“…Without prior knowledge of the importance of mass vs. length, many researchers have failed to fully describe exactly where and how much of a feather they sampled; however, it is clear that the generality of the artifact of mass dilution holds. When comparing proximal vs. distal, whole vs. partly grown, or vane vs. rachis, trends in concentration were opposite to those for mass (e.g., mineral profiles: Kelsall 1970, Kelsall and Pannekoek 1976, Bortolotti and Barlow 1985metal contaminants: Berg et al 1966, Goede and De Bruin 1986, Hahn et al 1990, 1993, Solonen and Lodenius 1990. Font et al (2007) cast doubt on the very utility of feathers as bioindicators because they felt that the differences between shaft and vane must be the result of some physiological process and not just the environment where the feather grew.…”

Effects of smelter emissions on metal levels in the plumage of ruffed grouse near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

“…Retrices may be more efficient particulate traps, or simply more exposed to fallout, than are primary feathers. As Kelsall and Pannekoek (1976) indicated, certain elements that readily form water-soluble compounds, such as sodium and potassium, may decrease during the feather year; thus it is possible that elements which are adsorbed may not be retained under all conditions. Although copper, nickel, and iron compounds are not generally water soluble, they could be affected by a physical "washingout" process.…”

“…One of the chief problems, however, has been the possibility that feather chemistry varies within the feather year (Kelsall and Pannekoek 1976;Burton 1977, 1979). Such variability was inconsistent with the assumption made by most workers (e.g., Hanson and Jones 1976) that mineral levels found in avian plumage reflected their concentrations in the dietary assimilations of the bird, and thus of the environment, during the period of feather growth.…”