Reproductive Outcomes in Colonial Fish-Eating Birds: A Biomarker for Developmental Toxicants in Great Lakes Food Chains: II. Spatial Variation in the Occurrence and Prevalence of Bill Defects in Young Double-Crested Cormorants in the Great Lakes, 1979–1987

Abstract

Congenital malformations are relatively uncommon in most wild bird populations. Here we document the occurrence of bill malformations in double-crested cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus) chicks from colonies in Green Bay and elsewhere in the Great Lakes and in reference areas off the Great Lakes, in the years 1979 through 1987. In the Great Lakes, 31,168 cormorant chicks were examined during 147 visits to 42 colonies. Seventy of these chicks had crossed or deflected bills or bills in which the mandibles differed in length. Only two of the 20,962 chicks examined during 82 visits to 35 colonies in reference areas located in the prairies and northwestern Ontario had bill defects. The probability of observing a malformed chick on a visit to a colony in Green Bay was 10 to 32 times greater than on a visit to a colony in the reference areas. Bill defects were observed at only two (6%) of the colonies in the reference areas. This proportion was exceeded in six of eight geographic regions within the Great Lakes and was highest (73%) in Green Bay colonies. The prevalence of malformed chicks in Green Bay (52.1 per 10,000)was markedly greater than in all other regions during this period. These bill defects are an example of developmental asymmetry and are an indicator of developmental stability within local populations. Other investigations in Lake Michigan suggest that chemicals such as polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., PCBs) that induce aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase are responsible for the defects observed defects.