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Wire ingestion by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus chick on San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico.


Authors

ALBERTO PIÑA-ORTIZ1*, VLADISLAV MARCUK1, SALVADOR GÓMEZ-HERNÁNDEZ2, JOSÉ ALFREDO CASTILLO-GUERRERO2, & PETRA QUILLFELDT1
1Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany *(Alberto.Pina-Ortiz@bio.uni-giessen.de)
2Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de la Zona Costera, Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara, Gómez Farías 82, San Patricio-Melaque, Municipio de Cihuatlán, Jalisco, 48980, Mexico

Citation

Piña-Ortiz, A., Marcuk, V., Gómez-Hernández, S., Castillo-Guerrero, J. A., & Quillfeldt, P. (2025). Wire ingestion by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus chick on San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico. Marine Ornithology, 53(1), 71-78.
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.53.1.1615

Received 22 July 2024, accepted 30 August 2024

Date Published: 2025/04/15
Date Online: 2025/01/12
Download PDF
Key words: marine debris, Gulf of California, secondary ingestion, Red-billed Tropicbird, wire ingestion

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.

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