| shell thinning and residues of organochlorines and mercury in seabird eggs, eastern canada, 1970-76. | organochlorine and mercury concentrations are reported for 252 eggs of leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa), double-crested cormorant (phalarocorax auritus), common eider (somateria mollissima), common tern (sterna hirundo), razorbill (alca torda), common murre (uria aalge) black guillemot (cepphus grylle), and atlantic puffin (fratercula arctica) from the bay of fundy, the gulf of st. lawrence, and the open atlantic shore of canada during 1970-76. concentrations of all organochlorines e ... | 1979 | 117427 |
| bile is essential for lipid assimilation in leach's storm petrel, oceanodroma leucorhoa. | a tritium-labeled glycerol triether was tested as a non-absorbable lipid marker for studies of neutral lipid absorption in normal and cholestryamine-induced steatorrhic chicks of leach's storm petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa). absorption of triacylglycerol and wax ester (96 +/- 4.2 and 94 +/- 2.1%, respectively) in normal chicks was indistinguishable. absorption of neutral lipids decreased with increasing quantities of resin, and with the highest dosage (14% wt/wt) less than 30% of dietary lipids ... | 1992 | 1510178 |
| heavy metal and metallothionein concentrations in atlantic canadian seabirds. | seabird tissues, collected during the 1988 breeding season from colonies on the atlantic coast of canada, were analyzed for toxic metals--cd, hg and pb--and 18 other trace elements. metallothionein (mt) was measured in kidney, and kidneys and livers underwent histopathological examination. levels of most essential trace elements appear to be closely regulated in seabird tissues; values were in good agreement with those previously reported in the published literature. liver-se concentrations in l ... | 1992 | 1554255 |
| polybrominated diphenyl ether trends in eggs of marine and freshwater birds from british columbia, canada, 1979-2002. | temporal, spatial, and interspecific trends in polybrominated diphenyl ether (pbde) flame retardants were determined in eggs of marine and freshwater bird species from the province of british columbia, canada. temporal trends in the fraser river estuary, 1983-2002, were examined by analysis of eggs of great blue herons (ardea herodias) and from the strait of georgia marine ecosystem, 1979-2002, in eggs of double-crested cormorants (phalacrocorax auritus). results were compared to those from eggs ... | 2005 | 16124290 |
| trace metals, stable isotope ratios, and trophic relations in seabirds from the north pacific ocean. | trace elements including mercury, cadmium, selenium, and stable nitrogen isotope ratios (sigma15n) were measured in tissues of pacific seabirds. two species of albatross (diomedea immutabilis, diomedea nigripes), four species of shearwaters (puffinus bulleri, puffinus carneipes, puffinus griseus, puffinus tenuirostris), northern fulmar (fulmarus glacialis), and horned puffin (fratercula corniculata) were collected opportunistically by an experimental fishery in the north pacific ocean. two speci ... | 2005 | 16445091 |
| evaluation of seabirds in newfoundland and labrador, canada, as hosts of influenza a viruses. | influenza a viruses infect a wide range of hosts, including many species of birds. avian influenza a virus (aiv) infection appears to be most common in anseriformes (ducks, geese, and swans) and some charadriiformes (shorebirds and gulls), but many other birds also serve as hosts of aiv. here, we evaluated the role of seabirds as hosts for aiv. we tested 3,160 swab samples from 13 seabird species between may 2008 and december 2011 in newfoundland and labrador, canada. we also tested 156 serum sa ... | 2014 | 24171570 |
| mercury concentrations in seabird tissues from machias seal island, new brunswick, canada. | mercury is a pervasive environmental contaminant, the anthropogenic portion of which is increasing globally, and in northeastern north america in particular. seabirds frequently are used as indicators of the marine environment, including mercury contamination. we analysed paired samples for total mercury (hg) concentrations in feathers and blood from adult and chick, albumen, and lipid-free yolk of seven seabirds breeding on machias seal island, new brunswick, canada - arctic tern (sterna paradi ... | 2009 | 19419752 |
| marine foraging birds as bioindicators of mercury in the gulf of maine. | from existing databases, we compiled and evaluated 604 total mercury (hg) levels in the eggs and blood of 17 species of marine foraging birds from 35 gulf of maine islands to provide baseline data and to determine the best tissue, age class, and species for future biomonitoring. while mean hg levels in most species did not exceed adverse effects thresholds, levels in some individual eggs did; for all species arithmetic mean egg hg levels ranged from 0.04 to 0.62 (microg/g, wet weight). piscivoro ... | 2008 | 19277786 |
| temporal trends of perfluoroalkyl substances (pfas) in eggs of coastal and offshore birds: increasing pfas levels associated with offshore bird species breeding on the pacific coast of canada and wintering near asia. | perfluoroalkyl substances (pfas) such as perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (pfcas) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (pfsas) have become virtually ubiquitous throughout the environment, and, based on laboratory studies, have known toxicological consequences. various national and international voluntary phase-outs and restrictions on these compounds have been implemented over the last 10 to 15 years. in the present study, we examine trends (1990/1991-2010/2011) in aquatic birds (ancient murrelet, synthlibo ... | 2015 | 25989421 |
| spatial and temporal trends in brominated flame retardants in seabirds from the pacific coast of canada. | polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) and hexabromocyclododecane (hbcdd) are bioaccumulative flame retardants. pbdes increased in many ecosystems during the late 20th century, but recently have declined in some environments. to examine trends in the northern pacific, we analysed pbdes, hbcdd and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13c and δ15n) to account for dietary effects in archived eggs of three seabird species from british columbia, canada, 1990-2011 (rhinoceros auklets, cerorhinca mono ... | 2014 | 25194271 |
| organochlorine contaminants in eggs of seabirds in the northwest atlantic, 1968-1984. | eggs of three seabird species, double-crested cormorant (phalacrocorax auritus). leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa), and atlantic puffin (fratercula arctica) were collected at four-year intervals from 1968 to 1984, from colonies in eastern canada and analyzed for organochlorines. this monitoring study was established to provide data on contamination of the marine environment and possible implications for seabird health. long-term trend data are presented for pcbs, dde, dieldrin, hcb, o ... | 1989 | 15092478 |
| mixed-function oxidase activity in seabirds and its relationship to oil pollution. | 1. the hepatic activity of epoxide hydrolase, aldrin epoxidase, aminopyrine n-demethylase, 7-ethoxyresorufin o-deethylase, benzo(a)pyrene 3-hydroxylase and udp glucuronyl transferase was determined in adult herring gulls (larus argentatus) at various stages of the breeding season. 2. mfo activity was measured for adult leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa), guillemot (uria aalge) and atlantic puffins (fratercula arctica). for most assays the values were highest for the puffin. 3. mfo act ... | 1987 | 2890477 |
| vision on the high seas: spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in two procellariiform seabirds with different foraging strategies. | procellariiform or 'tubenosed' seabirds are challenged to find prey and orient over seemingly featureless oceans. previous studies have found that life-history strategy (burrow versus surface nesting) was correlated to foraging strategy. burrow nesters tended to track prey using dimethyl sulphide (dms), a compound associated with phytoplankton, whereas surface-nesting species did not. burrow nesters also tended to be smaller and more cryptic, whereas surface nesters were larger with contrasting ... | 2016 | 27591308 |
| hippocampal volume is related to complexity of nesting habitat in leach's storm-petrel, a nocturnal procellariiform seabird. | the hippocampal and telencephalon volumes of the nocturnal leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa, n = 15) were compared with published data for food-storing and non-storing passerines. the hippocampus to telencephalon ratio of leach's storm-petrels is intermediate between food-storing and non-storing birds. leach's storm-petrels taken from nesting burrows in wooded habitat had a larger relative hippocampal volume than those taken from burrows in an open meadow. relative olfactory volume di ... | 2006 | 10473903 |
| first molecular characterization of a hepatozoon species (apicomplexa: hepatozoidae) infecting birds and description of a new species infecting storm petrels (aves: hydrobatidae). | during a survey of blood parasites in a population of leach's and black storm petrels ( oceanodroma leucorhoa and oceanodroma melania) in mexico, infection by a hepatozoon species in erythrocytes of several birds was noted. here we describe the species as hepatozoon peircei sp. nov. some species of hepatozoon described from birds have been identified as lankesterellids when dna molecular analyses were conducted. however, a sequence of 1,774 bp of the parasite found infecting storm petrels in thi ... | 2014 | 24926864 |
| first molecular characterization of a hepatozoon species (apicomplexa: hepatozoidae) infecting birds and description of a new species infecting storm petrels (aves: hydrobatidae). | during a survey of blood parasites in a population of leach's and black storm petrels ( oceanodroma leucorhoa and oceanodroma melania) in mexico, infection by a hepatozoon species in erythrocytes of several birds was noted. here we describe the species as hepatozoon peircei sp. nov. some species of hepatozoon described from birds have been identified as lankesterellids when dna molecular analyses were conducted. however, a sequence of 1,774 bp of the parasite found infecting storm petrels in thi ... | 2014 | 24471861 |
| effectiveness of emetics to study plastic ingestion by leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa). | most plastic ingestion studies rely on dissection of dead birds, which are found opportunistically, and may be biased. we used leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa) in newfoundland to study the effect of dose volume, and the efficacy of emesis using syrup of ipecac as an emetic. ipecac is a safe method of non-lethally sampling stomach contents, and recovered all ingested plastic. almost half the storm-petrels sampled had ingested plastic, ranging from 0 to 17 pieces, and weighing 0.2-16. ... | 2013 | 23507234 |
| relationships between blood mercury levels, reproduction, and return rate in a small seabird. | mercury (hg) is a ubiquitous heavy metal that occurs naturally in the environment, but its levels have been supplemented for decades by a variety of human activities. mercury can have serious deleterious effects on a variety of organisms, with top predators being particularly susceptible because methylmercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in food webs. among birds, seabirds can have especially high levels of hg contamination and leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa), in particular, hav ... | 2017 | 27888383 |
| gene duplication and divergence produce divergent mhc genotypes without disassortative mating. | genes of the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) exhibit heterozygote advantage in immune defence, which in turn can select for mhc-disassortative mate choice. however, many species lack this expected pattern of mhc-disassortative mating. a possible explanation lies in evolutionary processes following gene duplication: if two duplicated mhc genes become functionally diverged from each other, offspring will inherit diverse multilocus genotypes even under random mating. we used locus-specific p ... | 2016 | 27376487 |
| non-neutral evolution and reciprocal monophyly of two expressed mhc class ii b genes in leach's storm-petrel. | the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) is subject to pathogen-mediated balancing selection and can link natural selection with mate choice. we characterized two mhc class ii b loci in leach's storm-petrel, oceanodroma leucorhoa, focusing on exon 2 which encodes the portion of the protein that binds pathogen peptides. we amplified and sequenced exon 2 with locus-specific nested pcr and illumina miseq using individually barcoded primers. repeat genotyping of 78 single-locus genotypes produced ... | 2015 | 25416539 |
| identifying the provenance of leach's storm petrels in the north atlantic using polychlorinated biphenyl signatures derived from comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. | pcb signatures can be used for source identification, exposure studies, age dating and bio-monitoring. this study uses comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (gcxgc-tofms) to produce a pcb signature comprised of over 80 pcbs for individual leach's storm petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa). the leach's storm petrel is a relatively small, elusive, understudied pelagic bird, which only returns to remote islands under darkness during the breeding season. s ... | 2014 | 25113202 |
| population genetic structure and long-distance dispersal among seabird populations: implications for colony persistence. | dramatic local population decline brought about by anthropogenic-driven change is an increasingly common threat to biodiversity. seabird life history traits make them particularly vulnerable to such change; therefore, understanding population connectivity and dispersal dynamics is vital for successful management. our study used a 357-base pair mitochondrial control region locus sequenced for 103 individuals and 18 nuclear microsatellite loci genotyped for 245 individuals to investigate populatio ... | 2012 | 22548276 |
| changes in plasma hormone levels correlate with fledging in nestling leach's storm-petrels. | leach's storm-petrels accumulate large amounts of body mass throughout the nestling period. approximately 4days before fledging, nestlings weigh 50-100% more than adults. in order to shed this excess mass, nestlings engage in behavioral anorexia, and leave the burrow when they are light enough to fly. during this prefledging period, we measured several plasma hormones (corticosterone, thyroxine, and testosterone) to determine whether the behavioral changes associated with fledging are correlated ... | 2010 | 20688060 |
| total and methyl mercury concentrations in seabird feathers and eggs. | seabirds are used frequently as indicators of mercury contamination in marine ecosystems, but few studies have examined the forms of mercury found in seabird tissues. here we compare concentrations of total and organic mercury in feathers (n=5) of six sympatric nesting seabirds and in egg components of leach's storm-petrels from machias seal island, new brunswick, canada, during the 2006 breeding season. essentially all (82-133%) mercury found in seabird feathers and egg components was methyl me ... | 2009 | 18726541 |
| high within-individual variation in total mercury concentration in seabird feathers. | to our knowledge, no rigorous assessment of the variation in mercury concentrations within individual seabirds has been made using multiple body feathers. we analyzed five feathers from individual arctic terns (sterna paradisaea pontoppidan), common terns (sterna hirundo l.), and leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa veillot) and found levels of within-individual variability higher than population or time-series variation. using a randomization procedure, we found a large range of possibl ... | 2008 | 18522455 |
| examining the development of individual recognition in a burrow-nesting procellariiform, the leach's storm-petrel. | burrow-nesting petrels use their well-developed sense of smell for foraging, homing to their nest, and mate recognition. the chicks of burrow-nesting petrels can apparently learn odours associated with prey while still in the nest, but the development of individual-specific odour recognition is less well understood. we used a simple two-choice test to determine whether 4- to 6-week-old chicks of a small, burrow-nesting species, the leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa), prefer the scent o ... | 2008 | 18203988 |
| telomeres and longevity: testing an evolutionary hypothesis. | identifying mechanisms that underlie variation in adult survivorship provide insight into the evolution of life history strategies and phenotypic variation in longevity. there is accumulating evidence that shortening telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, play an important role in individual variation in longevity. given that telomeres generally shorten with age, it was surprising to find that in a population of a long-lived seabird, leach's storm petrel, telomeres appear to ... | 2008 | 18071200 |
| age-specific reproductive success: evidence for the selection hypothesis. | age-specific reproductive success has been demonstrated in many species. three hypotheses have been raised to explain this general phenomenon: the experience hypothesis based on age-specific reproductive experience, the effort hypothesis based on age-specific reproductive effort, and the selection hypothesis based on progressive disappearance of phenotypes due to variation in individual productivity and survival. we used data from a long-term study of leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa ... | 2004 | 15154562 |
| telomeres shorten more slowly in long-lived birds and mammals than in short-lived ones. | we know very little about physiological constraints on the evolution of life-history traits in general, and, in particular, about physiological and molecular adjustments that accompany the evolution of variation in lifespan. identifying mechanisms that underlie adaptive variation in lifespan should provide insight into the evolution of trade-offs between lifespan and other life-history traits. telomeres, the dna caps at the ends of linear chromosomes, usually shorten as animals age, but whether ... | 2003 | 12965030 |
| the natural history of telomeres: tools for aging animals and exploring the aging process. | we have been exploring the use of telomere length as a technique to age animals. if telomere restriction fragments (trfs) shorten predictably with age in a particular tissue, then measurement of trfs will allow estimation of ages of animals when age cannot be measured directly. this would be particularly useful in population studies where tissue samples can be collected, but age of individuals or age structure of the population is otherwise unknown. we have demonstrated that rate of change in le ... | 2003 | 12855289 |
| behavioral attraction of leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa) to dimethyl sulfide. | a recent model for olfactory foraging by procellariiform seabirds suggests that these birds use biogenic sulfur compounds to locate productive areas for foraging in the southern oceans. the present study refines a simple approach to test birds' responses to odors on land and extends our knowledge to a northern species, the leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa). rather than working at sea, we tested the behavioral response to dimethyl sulfide (dms) at night in breeding colonies on kent isl ... | 2003 | 12654888 |
| morphological and genetic factors shape the microbiome of a seabird species (oceanodroma leucorhoa) more than environmental and social factors. | the microbiome provides multiple benefits to animal hosts that can profoundly impact health and behavior. microbiomes are well-characterized in humans and other animals in controlled settings, yet assessments of wild bird microbial communities remain vastly understudied. this is particularly true for pelagic seabirds with unique life histories that differ from terrestrial bird species. this study was designed to examine how morphological, genetic, environmental, and social factors affect the mic ... | 2017 | 29084611 |
| comparing imaging, acoustics, and radar to monitor leach's storm-petrel colonies. | seabirds are integral components of marine ecosystems and, with many populations globally threatened, there is a critical need for effective and scalable seabird monitoring strategies. many seabird species nest in burrows, which can make traditional monitoring methods costly, infeasible, or damaging to nesting habitats. traditional burrow occupancy surveys, where possible, can occur infrequently and therefore lead to an incomplete understanding of population trends. for example, in oregon, durin ... | 2019 | 31106046 |
| divergence between genes but limited allelic polymorphism in two mhc class ii a genes in leach's storm-petrels oceanodroma leucorhoa. | the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) is critical to host-pathogen interactions. class ii mhc is a heterodimer, with α and β subunits encoded by different genes. the peptide-binding groove is formed by the first domain of both subunits (α1 and β1), but studies of class ii variation or natural selection focus primarily on the β subunit and ii b genes. we explored mhc ii a in leach's storm-petrel, a seabird with two expressed, polymorphic ii b genes. we found two ii a genes, ocle-daa and ocle ... | 2019 | 31506710 |
| changes in mercury exposure of marine birds breeding in the gulf of maine, 2008-2013. | mercury is a potent contaminant that can disrupt an organism's behavior and physiology, ultimately affecting reproductive success. over the last 100 years, environmental deposition of anthropogenic sourced mercury has increased globally, particularly in the u.s. northeast region. marine birds are considered effective bioindicators of ecosystem health, including persistent marine contaminants. goodale et al. (2008) found that mercury exposure exceeded adverse effects levels in some marine bird sp ... | 2018 | 29571358 |
| differences in tail feather growth rate in storm-petrels breeding in the northern and southern hemisphere: a ptilochronological approach. | moulting and breeding are costly stages in the avian annual cycle and may impose trade-offs in energy allocation between both stages or in their timing. here, we compared feather growth rates (fgr) of rectrices in adults between two pairs of small pelagic procellariiformes species differing in moult-breeding strategies: the european storm-petrel hydrobates pelagicus and leach's storm-petrel oceanodroma leucorhoa breeding in the northern hemisphere (faroe islands), showing moult-breeding overlap ... | 2019 | 31637118 |
| individual chemical profiles in the leach's storm-petrel. | avian chemical communication, once largely overlooked, is a growing field that has revealed the important role that olfaction plays in the social lives of some birds. leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa) have a remarkable sense of smell and a strong, musky scent. this long-lived, monogamous seabird relies on olfaction for nest relocation and foraging, but whether they use scent for communication is less well studied. they are nocturnally active at the breeding colony and yet successfull ... | 2020 | 32856136 |
| halogenated natural products in birds associated with the marine environment: a review. | halogenated natural products (hnps) are widespread compounds found at high concentrations in top predators such as seabirds. this paper reviews available data on methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (meo-bdes), heptachloro-1'-methyl-1,2'-bipyrrole (q1) and 1,1'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyrroles (hdbps) in these animals. in all, 25 papers reported such hnps in seabirds. white tailed sea eagle from sweden was the seabird species with higher meo-bdes levels in eggs and blood, while in liver the europ ... | 2020 | 32062248 |
| striking centennial-scale changes in the population size of a threatened seabird. | many animal populations are under stress and declining. for numerous marine bird species, only recent or sparse monitoring data are available, lacking the appropriate temporal perspective needed to consider natural, long-term population dynamics when developing conservation strategies. here, we use a combination of established palaeoenvironmental approaches to examine the centennial-scale dynamics of the world's largest colony (representing approx. 50% of the global population) of the declining ... | 2020 | 31964297 |
| ecology can inform genetics: disassortative mating contributes to mhc polymorphism in leach's storm-petrels (oceanodroma leucorhoa). | studies of mhc-based mate choice in wild populations often test hypotheses on species exhibiting female choice and male-male competition, which reflects the general prevalence of females as the choosy sex in natural systems. here, we examined mutual mate-choice patterns in a small burrow-nesting seabird, the leach's storm-petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa), using the major histocompatibility complex (mhc). the life history and ecology of this species are extreme: both partners work together to fledg ... | 2018 | 30010226 |
| foraging areas, offshore habitat use, and colony overlap by incubating leach's storm-petrels oceanodroma leucorhoa in the northwest atlantic. | despite their importance in marine food webs, much has yet to be learned about the spatial ecology of small seabirds. this includes the leach's storm-petrel oceanodroma leucorhoa, a species that is declining throughout its northwest atlantic breeding range. in 2013 and 2014, we used global location sensors to track foraging movements of incubating storm-petrels from 7 eastern canadian breeding colonies. we determined and compared the foraging trip and at-sea habitat characteristics, analysed spa ... | 2018 | 29742124 |
| development of the visual system in a burrow-nesting seabird: leach's storm petrel. | little is known about the development of vision in wild birds. it is unknown, for example, whether the ability to see can be predicted by the level of prenatal growth or whether the eyes are open at hatching in a particular species. in this study, we investigated the growth of eyes, the formation of retinal ganglion cell topography, and the appearance of simple, visually guided behaviours in chicks of a small procellariiform seabird, leach's storm petrel (oceanodroma leucorhoa). this semi-precoc ... | 2018 | 29212065 |
| annual global mean temperature explains reproductive success in a marine vertebrate from 1955 to 2010. | the salient feature of anthropogenic climate change over the last century has been the rise in global mean temperature. however, global mean temperature is not used as an explanatory variable in studies of population-level response to climate change, perhaps because the signal-to-noise ratio of this gross measure makes its effect difficult to detect in any but the longest of datasets. using a population of leach's storm-petrels breeding in the bay of fundy, we tested whether local, regional, or ... | 2018 | 29140586 |