Amy Scarpignato, SFBBO intern, holds a Caspian tern chick, ready for banding.

Purpose:
Birds serve as excellent monitors of environmental change and health. This is especially important in areas as highly modified and urbanized as the San Francisco Bay estuary where human impacts may be felt the most. SFBBO has studied tern colonies in the Bay for over 20 years; for the past three years we have looked at the impacts of contaminant levels on tern reproductive success.

The high concentrations of mercury and PCB's combined with patterns in tern reproductive success indicate that there may be adverse effects occurring in these species that may have population level consequences. For example, the sites with the lowest observed reproductive success in Forster's terns had elevated mercury and/or PCB concentrations.

Primary Contact for the Project:
Cheryl Strong
Phone: (408) 946-6548
E-mail: cstrong@sfbbo.org

Secondary Contact for the Project:
Janet Hanson
Phone: (408) 946-6548
E-mail: jthanson@sfbbo.org