Updates from the Field

Attention Teachers: Click here for a suggested activity relating to this week's field update Download this week's location data for the banded Siberian Cranes that we are tracking this fall. Week 5 Waterbird Lead Poisoning in Yakutia Masha Vladimirtseva, Junior Scientist Institute for Biological Problems of the Permafrost Zone, Yakutsk Lead poisoning continues to be a threat for migratorybirds in Yakutia. There are two open hunting seasons for wild ducks and geese in Yakutia – one in the spring and the other in the fall. These seasons correspond to the times of the spring and fall bird migrations. Wild birds use traditional stop-over sites between their southern wintering grounds and their northern breeding grounds (right). When birds rest during migration, they eat intensively, to save energy for their long way home. While eating, birds also swallow small stones, called gastroliths, to grind their food, because birds have no teeth. During the hunting seasons a great quantity of lead shot accumulates on lake bottoms in Yakutia, where wild ducks, geese, swans, and cranes like to rest during their migrations. Birds cannot recognize natural stones from poisonous lead shot, so they may accidentally eat the shot. In October 1995 the death of two young Siberian Cranes (below) in central Yakutia was linked to lead poisoning. The diagnosis was confirmed by clinical symptoms, and by a high level of lead in the organs of the cranes. In the stomach of one bird were found 32 shots, mass 3.95 gram, and in the stomach of the other bird 41 shots, mass 6.05 gram. In the last two to three years, a shot producer in the Irkutsk Region in southeastern Russia has started to manufacture shot that is only 30% lead. Before this change, the Yakutian Department of Biological Resources communicated with the company and explained why lead shot is not good for the environment, and published this problem in the press and science editions. The Department of Biological Resources even edited a booklet on lead shot in nature. Unfortunately, this new shot is not as effective as lead shot, and the manufacturers currently do not explain the environmental benefits of using shot with less lead.

Field Updates Student Activities Yakutian Birds Geography: Taiga and Tundra Ecoregions Field Work in the Tundra Science: Studying Animal Behavior Environmental Camps Team Building: Crane Egg Game Fall Migration Geography: Tracking Cranes Waterbird Lead Poisoning in Yakutia Social Studies: Raising Awareness Northeast China Discussion: Changing Landscapes Songnen Plain Science: Wetlands as Filters Student Exchanges Writing: School News Birding in China Science: Classroom Bird Feeders Bohai Bay Math: Waterbird Populations Poyang Lake Basin