Environment Contaminants in American and Artic Petegrine Falcon Eggs in Alaska, 1979-95

摘要

Since 1979, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has monitored environmental contaminants in American peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) and arctic peregrine falcon (F. p. tundrius) eggs in interior and arctic Alaska. Monitoring goals were collection and analysis of a minimum of 10 eggs from each subspecies every five years. The results of the 1984 program were reported by Ambrose et al. (1988a); this paper reports on 1988-95 analyses and compares data across the entire time span (eggs from 89 F. p. anatum and 68 F. p. tundrius nests from interior and northern Alaska collected between 1979 and 1995). In most cases a single egg was removed from each nest. More than one egg was collected from 23 nests, and contaminant values for those eggs were averaged for the nest. The majority of eggs analyzed were addled and collected during visits to band nestlings, but fresh eggs were collected during incubation in 1984, 1989, and 1995. Multiple eggs were taken from five females at intervals of two to four years. Four females with known wintering locations (via satellite tracking) were sampled, as were 33 eggs from known or estimated-age females.