Four waterfowl were collected in the Tri-State Mining District (Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, USA), an area known to be contaminated with lead, cadmium and zinc (Zn). They were part of a larger group of 20 waterfowl collected to determine the exposure of birds to metal contamination at the site. The four waterfowl (three Branta canadensis, one Anas platyrhynchos) had mild to severe degenerativ...

Methods developed for porphyrin analysis have low recoveries and/or poor precision for the less polar protoporphyrin IX. We describe a simple method of analysis of porphyrins and biliverdin in bile and excreta of birds based on extraction with HCl 3N: acetonitrile and HPLC/UV analyses. Recoveries were good for protoporphyrin IX and other porphyrins (>79%). Applications of this method showed tha...

Lead poisoning is preventing the recovery of the critically endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) and lead isotope analyses have demonstrated that ingestion of spent lead ammunition is the principal source of lead poisoning in condors. Over an 8 month period in 2009, three lead-poisoned condors were independently presented with birdshot embedded in their tissues, evidencing the...

Brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) in central Northland have been monitored for up to 32 months of sustained exposure to brodifacoum poison. The cereal baits were placed in bait stations to target brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula). Annual survival of 55 radio-tagged adult kiwi in two poisoned forest patches has been high (95.9%), and similar to that in two nearby unpoisoned forest patches an...

Female boat-tailed grackles poisoned with 3-chloro-p-toluidine hydrochloride (CPTH) were analyzed by necropsy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The necropsies identified the presence of a white precipitate in the pericardium, which had been previously reported as a characteristic of CPTH-exposed birds. The GC-MS method, which utilized deuterated CPTH as a surrogate, quantified C...

Plain and cinnamon-flavoured baits used in 1080-poisoning operations for brushtail possum control were offered to two captive North Island kaka at Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre in July 1985. The kaka ate plain baits the first day offered, but were deterred from eating cinnamon-flavoured baits until the second day. INTRODUCTION Carrots and pollard pellets commonly used as carriers of 1080 po...

During a six-year period (from January 2009 to December 2014), specimens collected from 344 cases of suspected organophosphorus and carbamate pesticide poisonings in wildlife, including birds, were submitted to the Toxicology Laboratory (ARC-OVI) for analysis. A positive diagnosis was made in 135 (39%) of these cases. The majority of cases were from birds, which included Cape vultures (Gyps cop...

OBJECTIVES Neuropsychiatric disorders and increased suicide rates have been associated with exposure to cholinesterase inhibiting organophosphates. This study examined symptoms of psychological distress, including suicidal ideation, among banana workers in Costa Rica previously exposed to a cholinesterase inhibiting pesticide. METHODS 78 workers who had received medical attention 1-3 years pr...

Several recent studies have used “roll calls” – searches for individually-marked birds – to assess impacts of aerial poison operations on non-target species. Roll calls have advantages over methods such as 5-minute bird counts, call counts, and dead body counts, but roll calls are based on the assumption that detection rates are 100%, or that detection rates are constant over time and space. Th...