Productivity, Diet, and Environmental Contaminants in Bald eagles Nesting Near the Wisconsin Shoreline of Lake Superior
Kozie KD and Anderson RK. 1991. Productivity, Diet, and Environmental Contaminants in Bald eagles Nesting Near the Wisconsin Shoreline of Lake Superior. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 40:41-48
Bald eagles (Haliaeetus luecocephalus) nesting in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and along the Wisconsin shoreline of Lake Superior produced an average of 0.8 young/occupied nest and had an average nest success of 57% during 1983-1988, compared to 1.3 young/occupied nest and 77% nest success in inland Wisconsin. Contaminant levels in the nestling bald eagle carcasses collected for nests near Lake Superior were higher than those collected inland, suggesting local contamination. Prey remains collected at nests consisted of fish (50%), primarily herring gulls (Larus argentatus) (48.4%); and mammals (1.2%). Organochlorine and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) residues were present at low levels (DDE:x=0.07 wet wt, PCB: X = 0.21 wet wt) in fish. Herring gulls contained higher concentrations (DDE: x = 5.5 wet wt, PCB: x = 16.95 wet wt) and appear to be the major source of elevated contaminant levels in bald eagles nesting near Lake Superior/
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Kozie, Karin; Anderson, Raymond
- Units
- APIS
- Keywords
- bald eagle, contaminant, Lake Superior