Living Eiderdown Swimming near NY Harbor

With the forecast calling for cloudy skies for most of New Year's Eve, I took another sunrise trudge down along the beach to go bird watching in an attempt to seize good light. My morning effort took me to Sea Bright, a barrier island community in New Jersey with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Shrewsbury River on the other, and located just south from the entrance to New York Harbor. Even as the people in this town rebuild after a devastating blow from Super-storm Sandy, there is access to the beach (which is always a good thing) where one can find beauty, affection, and great coastal wildlife watching. 

First thought on my mind upon arrival, except for more than a few gulls, it seemed odd that the ocean seemed so empty for a late December day. This may be year's end for humans, but it's only the beginning for winter  wildlife. Conspicuous by their absence were any winter ducks, loons, gannets, sanderlings, even cormorants.

I thought my time here was a complete waste, then there it was. Out of nowhere, about 30 yards from the edge of the beach was a large, heavy built water bird. The bird must have been at least two feet in length.  Yet, it was tricky to get a good look. The bird kept diving in and out of the cold ocean water to catch a meal of either Spider Crabs or Lady Crabs.  

With binoculars in hand, I noticed the bird was dark cinnamon-brown and soft white in color. The bird also had a very unique profile. Its bill was distinctive, long and sloping, dull yellow in color. What was this strange looking bird?

Although the bird had the profile and shape of an eider, it didn't have any of its beautiful showy and flashy feathers. Adult male Common Eiders are eye-catching birds with a long bill and bright white and brilliant black downy feathers.

Instead, this bird's feathers were kind of dim to match the overcast day. Whatever it was it was uncommon to the Lower New York Bay environment.   

A quick review of The Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds showed the bird to be a juvenile eider, a first-year Common Eider in fact. Wow, that changed everything. What a great sight to see this rarity, and swimming and foraging so close to the active waters of New York Harbor. Although a first year bird, I still felt lucky to have been able to see and photograph this sporadically seen eider. 

This young eider must have recently flew in from where it hatched over the summer. The "Atlantic Eider" population of Common Eiders, which are seen along the coast of New Jersey and New York in the winter, usually nest on rocky coastlines or on offshore rocks in the tundra along much of the north Canadian mainland, including the coast of Hudson Bay, on Canada's Arctic islands, or along the coast of Greenland or Iceland.  It was almost certainly an over two thousand mile journey for this young eider to reach the Jersey Shore in rain, snow, and strong winds.

The eiders are pushed south come autumn by advancing sea ice. Most will winter near the coast to forage in shallow waters from Labrador south to Virginia. Young birds sometimes venture as far south as Florida.

This immature eider will most likely stay along the coast of Sea Bright for a bit to take a break. Then off it will go, maybe to try to re-group with its family or other eiders somewhere in maritime waters. Eiders are hardy migrants that love rough, cold water. The rougher and colder, the better for these birds. Eiders are the most maritime of all waterfowl. Except when breeding, eiders will spend their entire time on cold northern  waters diving deep to the ocean bottom for food. They will use their lengthy, strong bills to catch mollusks, with a fondness for mussels, or crustaceans, or even an occasional sea urchin.

What keeps the eiders from freezing in cold waters and wintry weather are their soft, fluffy down feathers found beneath their tougher external feathers.  Down feathers are one of the best heat-insulating materials made by Mother Nature. The loose form or structure of down feathers helps to trap body heat in, which helps to insulate the bird against heat loss and also contributes to the bird's buoyancy.

Unfortunately, this "eiderdown" is also highly prized by people to make sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, or any other product used to fill a feather/down item. Common Eiders have suffered greatly because of their downy feathers for more than a century. The population we see during the winter time in New York and New Jersey was nearly wiped out by market hunters.  

Although it's a good sign to see a young healthy Common Eider, these large beautiful water birds still face an array of challenges. According to the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna,  a biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, which consists of National Representatives assigned by each of the eight Arctic Council Member States, including the United States, Canada, Russia, and Greenland, many eider populations have declined in recent decades. Some populations are thought to have declined by 50% or more since the early 1970s, and several formerly large colonies in western Greenland may have almost disappeared. Yet, quantitative information is too scarce to estimate an overall decline and trends for the species are difficult to trace, since the birds nest in remote places in the Arctic. 

The most notable global threats to eiders include hunting for down collection, especially in areas where there is a longstanding hunting tradition, such as in Labrador and Newfoundland. Mortality in commercial fishing is also a major threat, as are oil contamination and lead contamination, which follows to reproductive failure. Work needs to be done by many countries to minimize adverse effects of commercial activities on eiders and to protect the bird's aquatic and nesting habitats to ensure the continued viability of eider populations.

But why wait for countries to act. Some of the things you can do as an individual to help protect Common Eiders from population decline include: First, reduce or don't buy products with down. Second, write to companies that manufacture down products, like sleeping bags, jackets, blankets, and pillows, to ask them to provide the origins of down feathers on all their products. As of today, many companies  refuse to provide information about the origins of their down and feathers. Why? Perhaps the origin was done by illegal hunting or harvesting.

I will keep my eyes open to see if another Common Eider can be spotted again along the coast of Sea Bright. It would be wonderful, though, if someday this beautiful duck becomes abundant for all to see throughout the winter in the busy waters of New York Harbor and down the Jersey Shore.

Spotting Sand Dollars in Long Branch, NJ

The last Friday of the year was clear and cold. Took a walk on the beach along the edge of the Atlantic Ocean with an old friend, and what to our wondering eyes did appear, but countless Sand Dollars amid the high tide line. 

We were walking in Long Branch, a beach town located in Monmouth County, NJ where seven former presidents in the late 18th century once gathered to swim in the surf during their summer vacation. The list of presidents  included: Chester A. Arthur, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson.

No presidents in sight as far out as we could see on Friday, but there were quite a few Sand Dollars to be found on the soft, cold sand. Their bare round skeletons were mixed in among a variety of broken shells, pebbles, and other beach remains deposited at the wave's swash. Since the Sand Dollar shells were not yet bleached white from the sun,  they must have been somewhat freshly deceased.

The empty shells almost certainly came ashore from the surge of heavy surf and waves during Wednesday's nor'easter, the latest in a string of strong storms this year. The circular skeletons were evidence that Sand Dollars do live along the Jersey Shore, not far from the hectic and hard-working waters of New York Harbor.  

A few shells were whole, while most were cracked, yet their appearance suggested these were Atlantic Sand Dollars. Unlike Keyhole Sand Dollars, another species at times found, there were no slash-like holes around the outer limits of the shell.  These shells were wide, flat, and cookie-cutter shaped. Small too, only up to three inches in circumference. Atlantic Sand Dollars are more frequently found on beaches in New Jersey and New York. Once found, they were easy to identify with their distinctive star design on its shell.

When alive, Sand Dollars look little like their naked skeleton. The bodies are covered completely with short purple-brown hairs or spines that move microscopic tiny plants and animals called plankton into their centrally located mouth. The unique star pattern allows tiny tube feet or suction cups to stick out and more this critter along the sandy bottom of the ocean floor. Not bad for a species that doesn't have arms, legs, or even eyes. Sand Dollars are sea urchins, ancient maritime animals that also include sea cucumbers and sea stars. 

The empty Sand Dollar shells on the beach hinted of the on-going life and death struggle for them in the rigorous urban coastal environment from pollution to predation. After a Sand Dollar dies, the spines quickly fall off and the shell bleaches white over time.

(What a Sand Dollar looks like when its alive, covered in tiny velvety purple-brown hairs)

It was hard to resist picking up a few Sand Dollar shells to put in our pockets. They really are attractive when viewed up close and in person. Eventually, temptation gave in and we collected a small amount, but left countless more for future beach walkers and beachcombers to find. Hey, it was the holiday season after all.  

Interesting enough, the distinctive little Sand Dollar shares a quaint association to both Christmas and Easter. The story is told in the legend of the Sand Dollar, a religious tale which can be read here.

Ailing Finback Whale Stranded at Breezy Point

Grim Prognosis for a 60-Ton Whale Stranded on a Beach in Queens
By ANDY NEWMAN and DANIELLA SILVA
Animals and Wildlife December 26, 2012, 12:11 pm
The New York Times

An emaciated 12-metre long fin whale that beached itself in the Breezy Point neighborhood of the Rckaways in Queens, New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Updated, 9:22 a.m. | There it sat on the sand at Breezy Point on Wednesday morning in the misty drizzle, gray and improbably enormous, flippers slowly flopping, mouth bobbing open and shut in the lapping tide.

It was a whale, a 60-foot finback, longer than a city bus, “the banished and unconquerable Cain of his race” as Melville called it, looking almost robotic and entirely surreal on a stretch of Queens shoreline still littered with debris from Hurricane Sandy, with Brooklyn’s blocky skyline beyond.

As evening fell, the whale, severely underweight even at about 60 tons, was alive, but its breathing was slowing, and it was not long for this world, rescuers said.

“Unfortunately, this animal is so emaciated, there’s nothing we can do,” said Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation on Long Island, the region’s official rescuer of stranded marine mammals.
The whale is severely emaciated and is unlikely to survive, experts said.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times The whale is severely emaciated and is unlikely to survive, experts said.

On Thursday morning, the whale’s position had shifted because of a combination of high tide and a storm on Wednesday night, officials said. It’s condition was unclear, but if the whale is still alive, the plan was to euthanize it later on Thursday.

The whale was spotted on the shore of Rockaway Inlet, near Beach 216th Street, around 10:40 a.m. What is wrong with it and why it came here were not clear. The finback, also known as a fin whale, an endangered species and the second-biggest whale after the blue whale, is one of several types found in the waters off New York Harbor.

Whales approach the city’s shores on occasion, and it rarely ends well. In 2007, a small minke whale appeared near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal but soon died. Robert DiGiovanni Jr., the Riverhead Foundation’s executive director, said that big whales struck by ships sometimes turn up in the harbor, but “it’s unusual” to see a whale the size of a finback come ashore. In 1964, when a 52-foot finback corpse turned up in the Hudson off 79th Street, The Times wrote that “seafaring folk along the river say they had never heard of whales, dead or alive, in those waters.”

The prognosis for beached whales, particularly of this size, is always grim, said Mendy Garron, a marine-mammal rescue coordinator with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“When large whales strand, it’s very difficult,” she said. “The minute they get on the beach they’re being compromised because their internal organs are being crushed by their weight.”

If the whale dies, disposing of its body will also be difficult. Assuming the whale is necropsied, its body will be so carved up that towing it out to sea and dumping it will not be possible, Ms. Garron said.

Finding a place to bury the remains in an urban area can be hard (a finback that washed up in the Hamptons in August was buried in the sand). If the whale has to be euthanized, Ms. Garron said, such large quantities of toxic drugs will have to be used that the carcass will become an environmental hazard. Finding a landfill for 60 tons of biological waste is expensive.

“It can be a logistical nightmare,” Ms. Garron said. The 1964 whale was towed 35 miles out to sea, fitted with 500 pounds of explosives, and blown up. Ms. Garron said that method was off the table.

The appearance of the doomed whale in a coastal neighborhood devastated by water and fire during the hurricane drew crowds of onlookers, who watched as volunteer firefighters hosed down the animal to keep it hydrated.

“It’s always another adventure,” said Rosemary Keegan, 66. “After everything else we’ve had out here, you don’t know what to expect.”

Some residents first seemed hopeful that the whale might somehow make its way back out to sea, but as fog rolled in and the rain mixed with snow, the mood grew somber. One by one, the whale-watchers peeled away from the beach, leaving the giant, heaving animal, growing ever more still as day faded away.

A version of this article appeared in print on 12/27/2012, on page A19 of the NewYork edition with the headline: ‘Nothing We Can Do,’ Rescuers Say, For Whale Beached on Queens Shore.

New Public Access Rules in NJ are Bad

NY/NJ BAYKEEPER AND HACKENSACK RIVERKEEPER SUE NJ DEP OVER NEW PUBLIC ACCESS RULE

Rule rolls back public access requirements along urban waterfronts

Keyport, New Jersey – NY/NJ Baykeeper and Hackensack Riverkeeper filed suit today, asserting that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) does not have the legal authority to allow municipalities to restrict public access to tidal waters.

On November 5, 2012, NJ DEP adopted a rule governing how towns provide access to tidal waters, including the Atlantic coast, Bayshore and the banks of rivers.  While the Public Trust Doctrine gives the people an inalienable right to access and enjoy lands below the high tide line, DEP’s rule enables municipalities to limit access as they see fit. Further, the new rule limits the amount of access towns can require – in some cases potentially allowing them to offer no access at all – effectively placing a ceiling above public rights rather than a floor beneath them. The rule does nothing to create new public access, and in many places it will prevent the public from ever accessing the shores and riversides.

“It is New Jersey’s responsibility under the Public Trust Doctrine to manage Public Trust resources (tidal waters and the shoreline) for the benefit of all citizens,” said Captain Bill Sheehan, Hackensack Riverkeeper.  “When DEP adopted its new rule they, in effect, declared that the state no longer has to uphold its duty.  The rule sets the DEP above the Public Trust Doctrine, and presumes to allow the Department to decide when – and if – you can enjoy your public trust rights.  The DEP simply cannot do that.”

Under the previous DEP rule, if an existing development operating on tidal waters sought to expand operations, it often either had to offer onsite public access or, if such access was impractical, contribute to a fund to create public access nearby.  NJ DEP’s new rule swept away this provision. Now most existing commercial, residential and industrial developments do not have to provide public access when they expand or redevelop the site if no public access existed previously.  These exemptions allow businesses to dominate a public resource without compensating the public.

 “Anyone who has been to North Jersey can see that access to natural resources is limited,” said Debbie Mans, NY/NJ Baykeeper. “Urban residents’ right to access tidal waters—a public resource—has been given away for free under this rule.  The new rule shows utter disregard for urban communities’ need for access to nature.  NJ DEP does not have the authority to give away precious public resources and with this lawsuit and we intend to stop them from doing so.”

Baykeeper and Riverkeeper assert that the DEP has no power make these rules until the legislature gives authority and guidance on how to protect the Public Trust rights of all New Jerseyans. The DEP should then act on that authority to protect the rights of all the people in the state, not just industrial interests and wealthy landowners.

“The shore belongs equally to all New Jerseyans, but this rule would close access to many urban waters forever, and allow shore towns to decide when – or even if – the rest of New Jersey ever gets to visit our public trust lands,” said Christopher Len, Staff Attorney for both Waterkeepers. “The Atlantic shore, the bayshore and the banks of our rivers belong to all of us – restricting our access to these lands is bad policy and is against the law.”

Since 1989, NY/NJ Baykeeper has been the leading bi-state organization working to protect, preserve and restore the Hudson-Raritan Estuary.  For more information, visit: www.nynjbaykeeper.org.

Founded in 1997, Hackensack Riverkeeper is the independent, non-governmental advocate for the Hackensack River and its 265 square-mile watershed. For more information, visit www.hackensackriverkeeper.org.

Both organizations are founding members of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international movement of clean water advocates. For more information, visit www.waterkeeper.org.

Spotting A Seal Head in Sandy Hook Bay

The timing can be tricky and unpredictable, but when spotted the spectacle is unforgettable. It can happen anytime and anywhere along the Jersey Shore during the winter. 

The winter solstice arrived early in the morning on December 21. Along  Sandy Hook Bay in Atlantic Highlands not far from the harbor, the air was chilly and there were a few whitecaps on the water from a stiff northerly breeze. Yet, the sky was partly cloudy and the sun shone golden as it rose in the eastern sky to cast golden sparkles on the shoreline.

It was a perfect backdrop to be out to spot some seasonal sights of local wildlife. I was  birding just after sunrise. All manner of winter ducks were taking advantage of the low tide to forage in the shallows near the harbor. There were several Black Ducks, Buffleheads, Mallards, and Mergansers, even a few shy Golden-eyes. They looked busy plucking food from the water, and exhibiting their skill at adapting well to the season.

I was so focused on waterfowl that I almost missed it. Popping in and out of the water about a hundred feet or so away was an adult Harbor Seal. What an amazing sight! The seal emerged out of nowhere, but appeared to be foraging up a fish for breakfast, most likely a flounder. Maybe even a clam or two. 

 

With binoculars in hand, I could more clearly see the lone seal. It had a dog-like head sticking out of the water, almost giving it an appearance of a Springer spaniel. Yet, this was no dog. This was a marine mammal, a living thing that thrives in the aquatic environment.

Except for a few whiskers near its mouth and some facial hair, the seal seemed hairless and did not have visible ears. It was a true seal or an earless seal, different from fur seals or sea lions that display ears on their heads. The nose was also noticeable.  Its nostrils had a "V" or heart shape. The body was gray in color with an overlay of sports and blotches.

The characteristics suggested a Harbor Seal to me. As winter settles in, Harbor Seals migrate from Cape Cod, the coast of Maine, and points further north where they breed during the spring and summer to remote beaches along Long Island, New York Harbor, and down the length of the Jersey Shore. The seals settle in for the winter to rest on well-established haul-out sites: land bases, mostly gently inclining sand bars or isolated beaches, where the seals will take it easy and find refuge during the non-breeding season.  

Lucky for me, I was in the right time and place to see this hungry Harbor Seal. For a few minutes there was a rush of excitement. It didn't last long and neither did the sight of the seal. The marine mammal was gone in a matter of minutes. Yet, it was just as if Mother Nature had turned a switch, winter weather arrived and so had this seal to Sandy Hook Bay.

In past winters, the shoals and sandy beaches around Sandy Hook Bay always seemed to have magically come alive with the sights and sounds of seals. Although distant, the familiar silhouettes of seals could have been seen with a spotting scope or binoculars. A few years back, I estimated the winter population of Harbor Seals at Sandy Hook to be over 100. This was an increase from a decade ago when there were just a handful to observe at Sandy Hook. 

This winter, though, will be different. With Sandy Hook National Recreation Area closed indefinitely to the public due to on-going repairs from Super-storm Sandy, the best chance to observe seals in the bay might be just spotting a head or two sticking out of the water. Forget about observing haul out sites at Sandy Hook.

Swimming seals though, do not stay long. Harbor Seals like nothing more to be on the move when hunger overtakes them. They also tend to leave an area quickly if people or pets become noisy. Startling movements will also disturb a seal.   

Yet, this estuary never fails to amaze people.  For me, the winter solstice was made even more meaningful this year with the sight of a swimming seal in Sandy Hook Bay, even though it was swift and some distance away. Thank goodness for camera lenses, spotting scopes, and binoculars. The winter pastime of watching seals in the bay has arrived.

If you think a seal or another marine mammal is sick, hurt or in danger, do not touch or attempt to help it. Instead call the NJ Marine Mammal Stranding Center at (609) 266-0538. In New York, please call the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at (631) 369-9829.

A White Christmas in NY Harbor, Maybe??

More Northeast Snow Just in Time for Christmas
By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist
AccuWeather.com
December 23, 2012; 2:00 PM

A last-minute snowstorm will allow more of the Northeast to experience a white Christmas after all.

It is beginning to look more like Christmas across northern New England, downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario and the central Alleghenies following the late-week winter storm and lake-effect snow.

But there are still plenty of places across the Northeast where the ground is bare and residents are wishing for a white Christmas.

AccuWeather.com has good news for many of those residents with a storm in the works for the Northeast Christmas Eve into Christmas Day.

The storm will be far from a repeat of the Midwest blizzard with a general 1 to 3 inches expected to spread from northern Pennsylvania to central New England.

Cities where the snow is expected to guarantee a white Christmas include Williamsport and Scranton, Pa., Albany and Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Boston, Mass., and Portsmouth, N.H.

There will also be a light coating as far west as central and northeastern Indiana and southeastern Michigan, including Detroit, on Monday.

While not enough to bring holiday travel to a standstill, a general 1 to 3 inches of snow would still create headaches for travelers.

The snow that falls during the daylight hours of Monday would not be heavy enough to cause problems on roadways, but low-hanging clouds and reduced visibility may delay flights.

Monday evening and night is when motorists will have to use caution when traveling to and from Christmas Eve services. With the loss of sunlight, even a light amount of snow will have an easy time coating and turning roads slick.

Along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and into the northern mountains of West Virginia, a mix of ice pellets and snow threaten to cause travel troubles.

Across central Pennsylvania, including in State College, AccuWeather.com meteorologists are concerned that freezing drizzle will follow the accumulating snow later Monday night.

However, not all of the Northeast will see a white Christmas.

A surge of milder air would prevent anything but rain falling across southern New Jersey, central and southern Delaware, southern Maryland, Washington, D.C., and most of Virginia.

Part rain and part snow will fall from central and northern Ohio and from northern parts of the Virginias, western Maryland and southern Pennsylvania to central New Jersey, New York City and southernmost New England.

Kids and those young at heart should not get excited for a white Christmas in this zone. If any snow accumulates, it will be held to under an inch.

As the upcoming storm departs the Northeast Tuesday night, residents and visitors will have to quickly turn their attention to a new storm that will be far more potent.

This second storm will evolve into a major winter storm for the Northeast, complete with howling winds, soaking rain and substantial snow.

NY-NJ Birds Sing Different Due to Pollution

 Are Birds Singing a Different Tune?
New York Coastlines, Fall 2012
New York Sea Grant
– Barbara A. Branca

Above- A Black-Capped Chickadee. Note: Hear some of the songs of birds featured in this article. Check out the Web Extras feature here.

Picture a hushed woodland along a Hudson riverbank. The silence is broken by a tiny blackcapped chickadee calling “fee-bee, fee-bee,” the spring song familiar to hikers and birders alike. Could this bird ever sing a different tune? A researcher at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology has found that in some environments the chickadee’s song has become variable and the sound of the first note inconsistent. The hypothesized cause of such variability may be non-lethal levels of contaminants that persist in the Hudson River region.

As a grad student at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, Sara DeLeon’s interest in bird behavior got her involved with a NY Sea Grant funded project to study birdsong as an indicator of effects of exposure to sublethal levels of contaminants such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the environment. Principal investigator Dr. Timothy J. DeVoogd, with a specialty in neuroanatomy and histology, really helped her “test her wings” as she learned about the intricacies of a bird’s brain. Co-investigator Dr. André A. Dhondt, Sara’s advisor, encouraged her to find ways to best study birds both in the wild and in the lab.

Songbirds such as black-capped chickadees, red-winged blackbirds and song sparrows are common to New York State. Many nest along the Hudson River valley, a region with legacy levels of PCBs as a result of decades of electronics manufacturing upriver. During the last century, PCBs emerged as harmful, worldwide chemical pollutants. Most research on their biological consequences emphasized impacts on mortality, survival, and growth. Less studied has been the impact of prolonged exposure to sublethal levels of PCBs on animals.

Songbirds feed their chicks aquatic insects as a main food source, some of which may be contaminated by PCBs. Some birds continue eating insects throughout life, thus increasing PCB ingestion if they live in contaminated areas. In preliminary lab studies, the Cornell group found that PCBs interfere with the development of brain systems involved in producing song, and that some song characteristics are altered in birds living near Hudson River areas contaminated with PCBs. Because of the chemical structure and physiological effects of PCBs, one sublethal consequence could be alterations to bird behaviors. There are 209 different PCB molecules based on where the chlorine atoms are attached to each benzene ring. Different PCBs may have different effects on brain structures responsible for song in songbirds.

Armed with binoculars and recording equipment, Sara set out into locations along the Hudson to record the songs of blackcapped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). She also compared PCB concentrations in the birds using non-destructive techniques by taking samples of blood and feathers. Results showed that black-capped chickadees and song sparrows from regions with higher historic PCB contamination have higher blood PCB loads. Those regions with higher PCB levels showed a higher proportion of black-capped chickadees with variable songs and a higher proportion of song sparrows with high performance trills.

Black-capped chickadees have a basic twonote song consisting of just one high note (“fee”) and lower note (“bee”) Analysis of blood samples from black-capped chickadees showed that they have more PCB molecules with a high number of chlorine atoms and show greater variability in song with a change in the “glissando” ratio of the first note.

Song sparrows have a very long song with trills. The ‘high performance trills’ in song sparrows may be the result of other types of PCB molecules that are less toxic and act more like hormones. Some of the song sparrows with higher PCBs had slower trills. So those showing the high performance trills must have offset the slow trill rate with a larger bandwidth to get that high performance trill.

To corroborate results, DeLeon’s field studies were compared to controlled laboratory experiments to show the effect of PCBs on song using zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Zebra finches were dosed with minute quantities of PCB 52 (a known estrogenic mimic) and Aroclor 1242 (a commercial PCB mixture that was released on the Hudson River). “In the lab, zebra finches got a fraction of the PCBs they might be exposed to in the field, yet small amounts of contaminants were enough to have an effect.”

Results indicate that PCBs affect song characteristics, mating behavior, reproduction, song preference, and brain anatomy. Therefore, PCBs are changing a vital component of communication and reproductive success in birds, their song. (Listen to actual birdsongs on this page - see "Related Info" sidebar for links)

What result is of the most interest to people? “Contaminants last a long time and are pervasive,” says DeLeon. “We have to take that into account when we study species in these disturbed environments and be aware of how environmental changes are affecting them.”

Several papers resulting from this project are in the works.

After seven years working on birdsong and behavior, Sara is now a post-doc at Drexel University in Philadelphia where she will continue working on bird behavior, this time on interactions between tropical birds and army ants.