Mercury in wing and tail feathers of hatch-year and adult tidal marsh sparrows.

We estimated mercury exposure and bioaccumulation in sparrow feathers to determine variation among age groups, between sparrow species, and between feather types. Results of feather mercury studies in piscivorous birds indicate that mercury concentrations tend to increase with age and differ between feather types; however, data for insectivorous birds are lacking. We estimated mercury exposure of two insectivorous and sympatric tidal marsh sparrows: coastal plain swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana nigrescens), and seaside sparrow (Ammodramous maritimus).