from:

American Waterfowlby

Phillips and Lincoln

Houghton Mifflin Company

1930

Screening-level study to determine whether wild birds in the Tri-State Mining District are suffering

from metal poisoning related to past mining.

• Part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment procedure

• Screening-level, to determine if additional work justified• Focused on injury to birds (not meant to investigate soil

contamination, exposure, or other related issues)• To include several species and sites in the three states

Contributors (FWS and USGS)

• Administered through Karen Cathey of the Southwest region of the FWS.

• Suzanne Dudding helped through the Tulsa office• Jim Dwyer, Missouri, was the case manager• John Miesner, Kansas – planning, organizing and

conducting, field work, lent his retriever

• Susan Finger, NRDA coordinator for Geological Survey• Lou Sileo, pathologist at the National Wildlife Health

Center, Madison, WI

Contributors, cont.

• BIA – John Dalgarn, Sam Beets, Mike Longan – steadfast host and guide, generous with his time and took care of our needs, finding and getting to sites

• David Mosby (MO Dept. Nat. Res.) and Leo Henning (KS Dept. Health and Environ.) helped in selecting sites

• John Sparkman, executive director of the Picher Housing Authority, located some birds critical to the result

• Rafael Mateo, Spanish veterinarian and professor, specialist in diagnosing lead poisoning in birds

Birds collected from the Tri-State Mining District and reference sites.

From Tri-State Mining District From Reference sites

Waterfowl Canada goose (Branta canadensis) 3 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 8 5 Common pintail (Anas acuta) 2 Green-winged teal (Anas crecca) 1 Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris) 2 Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) 1Bobwhite and doves Common bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) 7 Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) 12 4Songbirds Bank swallow (Riparia riparia) 9 7 Rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) 6 Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) 1 American robin (Turdus migratorius) 10 6 Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 8 8

Birds from District collected by Bureau of Indian AffairsWaterfowl Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 3

Collection sites (▲) of wild birds

Methods

• Captured birds were euthanized• Blood sample taken, a portion saved for

chemical analysis, a portion frozen in liquid nitrogen for measuring ALAD activity

• Waterfowl examined at necropsy, other birds dissected, tissues saved for chemical analysis, portion put in formalin for histopathology

• Examined waterfowl gizzards for shot (1 steel shot found)

Evaluating Injury

• Concentrations of metals in tissues, ppm, (dry weight)

• Histopathology of liver, kidney, pancreas (waterfowl, bobwhite), lungs (swallows)

• Activity of the enzyme ALAD in blood, a measure of injury from lead

Cadmium in wild birds from the District

• Renal cadmium concentrations in birds from the District tended to be higher than those in reference birds. (Differences for cardinals, robins and swallows were statistically significant.)

• We failed to find the histopathological lesions associated with cadmium poisoning in kidneys of the birds examined.

Mean concentrations of Pb in tissues of an assessment population of birds from the Tri-State Mining District (Tri) and reference (ref.) sites (2001).______________________________________________________ liver kidneySpecies [sample size] mg of Pb/kg, dry wt___________________________mean SD_____mean SD_WaterfowlTri-State [17] 4.1* (9.6) 11** (14)Ref. [5] 0.57 (0.36) 0.86 (0.42)BobwhiteTri-State [7] 0.16 (0.12) 2.5 (1.4)DovesTri-State [12] 1.2 (0.75) 7.2 (5.5)Ref. [4] 1.3 (1.0) 7.0 (4.0)SwallowsTri-State [14] 4.2** (3.2) 6.2** (4.5)Ref. [7] <0.02 (0.014) 0.081 (0.032)RobinsTri-State [10] 9.3 (7.2) 20* (12)Ref. [6] 5.1 (3.8) 8.9 (7.1)CardinalsTri-State [8] 4.7** (4.3) 9.4** (7.5)Ref. [8] 0.48 (0.59) 0.41 (0.40)_______________________________________________________

Activity of the lead-sensitive enzyme ALAD in blood of birds collected

from the Tri-State Mining District and from reference sites (2001). ________________________________________________________Birds ALAD Activity - Mean (S. D.) Relative Tri-State Reference sites activity_______________________________________________________Robins 65 (52) 188 (106) 35%*Cardinals 137 (67) 343 (59) 40%*Waterfowl 89 (63) 217 (63) 41%*Bobwhite 166 (48) 297 (69) 56%*Doves 167 (98) 133 (37) 126%_______________________________________________________* means significant at p < 0.05 by Mann-Whitney U test

Highest concentrations of Pb in tissues of songbirds from the _______________Tri-State Mining District

(2001)_________________ mg Pb/kg, dry weight ALAD Liver Kidney Blood activity Wild from Tri-State Mining District Robin 1 12 34 2.2 7% Robin 2 25 45 2.7 5% Cardinal 13 25 3.6 9% Brown thrasher 94 150 4.0 8% Swallow 1 14 19 1.3 Swallow 2 7.5 11 1.4

10% quantiles of lethally dosed songbirds Blackbirds 27 33 Cowbirds 33 87 Grackle 67 220______________________________________________________

Mean concentrations of Zn in tissues of an assessment population of birds from the Tri-State Mining District (Tri) and reference (ref.) sites (2001).______________________________________________________ liver kidneySpecies [sample size] mg of Zn/kg, dry wt___________________________mean SD_____mean SD_WaterfowlTri-State [17] 440** (710) 210* (240)Ref. [5] 93 (30) 80 (8.3)DovesTri-State [12] 100 (34) 140 (40)Ref. [4]) 82 (17) 99 (11)SwallowsTri-State [14]) 140 (80) 86 (22)Ref. [7]) 110 (22) 79 (5.2)RobinsTri-State [10]) 92 (31) 110** (9.9)Ref. [6]) 120 (16) 88 (5.7)CardinalsTri-State [8]) 86 (13) 100** (14)Ref. [8]) 100* (15) 81 (3.9) _______________________________________________________

Zinc in 4 waterfowl from the District diagnosed with pancreatitis

Concentration in tissue

Bird (mg/kg, dry weight)

Liver Kidney Pancreas

Goose 1 2900 970 260

Goose 2 1000 510 2400

Goose 3 1100 560 2300

Mallard 280 220 440

Mallards that appeared weak collected from Spring River by the BIA

Mallard 1 770 300 2400

Mallard 2 920 290 2000

Mallard 3 1100 620 7400

Reference 200 90 300

Trumpeter swan observed on mill pond, east of Picher, February, 2003

Conclusions about injury from lead

No birds examined had pathological lesions that could be attributed unequivocally to lead.

Assessment populations of robins, cardinals and waterfowl are suffering sublethal physiological toxic effects (ALAD) from lead poisoning.

Two ducks and several songbirds had tissue concentrations

of lead that have been associated with more severe injury.

Conclusions about injury from zinc

Songbirds and upland game birds did not show evidence of zinc poisoning.

Three Canada geese, a mallard and a trumpeter swan collected from the District had a rare pancreatic lesion known to be associated with zinc poisoning in birds. All had tissue concentrations consistent with zinc poisoning.

Two of the zinc-poisoned waterfowl were moribund when collected.

The concentrations of zinc in at least some parts of the District are high enough to kill waterfowl.