Fitness of birds in mercury-contaminated areas of the Shenandoah River Valley (Year 1 study)

Slide presentation describing Year 1 of a proposed three-year study to test whether birds in mercury-contaminated parts of the Shenandoah River Valley experience reduced fitness. Methods include selecting high-trophic breeding species (tree swallows, kingfishers, song sparrows, yellowthroats, red-winged blackbirds), measuring reproductive success (nest boxes, nesthole searches) and sampling blood, feathers and eggs for total mercury.