Birds, observational records

Instead of bird seed, other foods attractive to sqnirrels snch as acorns or peanuts can be treated and offered along with nntreated controls. The acorns can be placed in several clusters of 5, equidistant from one another. Alternate with clusters of untreated acorns (or peannts). Observe squirrels from a distance for 20 min. Record the first response of individnal animals to the capsaicin-treated food. Does their behavior betray signs of discomfort If no squirrels approach the food during that time, return after 1 h, and again after 2 h and tally the nnmbers of items removed. 

Seabird feathers may provide a proxy for oceanic mercury secular change (Monteiro and Furness, 1997). This unique dataset includes feathers retrieved from museum specimens of exclusively pelagic, piscivorous seabirds such as shearwaters and petrels. While there is scatter associated with the values, as should be expected from such a natural archive, an increase of —3 X between 1885 and 1994 can be seen in the mercury concentration of the feathers. Furness, Monteiro and co-workers have extended their work to include studies on the movement of mercury within hving birds and the relationship between prey concentrations of mercury and those observed in the bird s feathers (Monteiro et al., 1998 Monteiro and Furness, 2001), which aid in the interpretation of the feather record. This approach has so far been apphed to the NE... 

Sublethal effects of toxaphene observed in mammals, small laboratory animals, and birds were similar to those recorded for aquatic organisms however, there was general agreement that effects were induced at much higher concentrations. In domestic white leghorn chickens, for example, toxaphene at... 

---