Work

Wire Ingestion by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus Chick on San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We report the ingestion of wire by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus chick at San Pedro Mártir Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. A scat sample collected from a four- to five-week-old chick contained a copper wire ~5.0 mm in length. Biologging revealed the previous foraging trips by one of the parents, and we ascertained the diet of birds in this colony through a molecular approach. From these data, we suggest why this individual was fed wire.

Source: Marine ornithology

DOI: 10.5038/2074-1235.53.1.1615

Authors: Alberto Piña-Ortiz, Vladislav Marcuk, Salvador Gómez-Hernández, José Alfredo Castillo-Guerrero, Petra Quillfeldt

Institution: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen

Language: English

Topic: Microplastics and Plastic Pollution

Subfield: Pollution

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Sonoran Joint Venture, Universidad de Guadalajara, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas

Award: G7189434359