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Conservation Value of Feathers 1.As a hammer (1886 George Bird Grinnell and Women against plume hunters) 2.Molting demands conservation of stopover sites 3.Feathers as indicators of ecosystem health
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Feathers Assess Organochloride Pollutants in White-tailed Sea Eagles (Jaspers et al. 2011) (photo.net)
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PCBs, DDE, BDEs Body Feathers work well as assay tools
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Conclusions Different concentrations of substances were affected by pattern of molt, so need to know how long a feather has been exposed to environment and preening
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Pigeon Feathers Assess Metals in Urban Settings (Henrique et al. 2011) Brazil Adsorbed from environment (Lead, Chromium, Cadmium) or from food (Copper, Iron, Manganese, Zinc)
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High Concentration of Metals in Urban Sites Relative to Less Urban Sites
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Ptilochronology Feathers grow during day and night During day as bird eat more pigment is deposited in growing feather and a dark bar results During night as birds roost less pigment is deposited resulting in a lighter bar Alternating light and dark bars represent a 24 hour period of feather growth—wider bar indicates better nutrition as the feather grows more in 24hours
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Correlate with Reproduction and Survival (Takaki et al. 2001) Styan’s Grasshopper Warbler
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Extreme “Fault Bars” Low nutrition, poor habitat, indicators of environment al stress
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References Jaspers, V.L.B. et al. 2011. Body feathers as a potential new biomonitoring tool in raptors: A study on organohalogenated contaminants in different feather types and preen oil of West Greenland white-tailed eagles. Environment International 37:1349- 1356. Brait, C. H. H. and Filho, N. R. A. 2011. Use of feathers of feral pigeons as a technique for metal quantification and environmental monitoring. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 179:457- 467. Harmata, A. R. 2011. Environmental contaminants in tissues of Bald Eagles sampled in southwestern Montana, 2006-2008. Journal of Raptor Research 45:119-135. Clarkson, C.E. 2011. Applicability of ptilochronology as a conservation tool in waterbird studies. Ecological Indicators 11:1707-1709. Grubb, T. C. Jr. 1989. Ptilochronology: feather growth bars as indicators of nutritional status. Auk 106:314-320.
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