Abstract
Common tern,Sterna hirundo, chicks injected with lead (Pb) nitrate (IP) showed slower weight gain than controls, due to reduced assimilation efficiency, rather than reduced food intake. The ability to manipulate fish, involving complex motor coordination of head and neck, showed impairment, while the ability to locate and seize fish did not. The study demonstrates that Pb can selectively impair certain behavioral functions of feeding.
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Gochfeid, M., Burger, J. Effects of lead on growth and feeding behavior of young common terns (Sterna hirundo). Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 17, 513–517 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055517
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055517