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AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR OF MALLARDS AND NORTHERN BOBWHITE EXPOSED TO CARBOFURAN-CONTAMINATED FOOD AND WATER
Citation:
Kononen, D., J. Hochstein, AND R. Binger. AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR OF MALLARDS AND NORTHERN BOBWHITE EXPOSED TO CARBOFURAN-CONTAMINATED FOOD AND WATER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-86/533.
Description:
Food avoidance experiments could contribute to assessments of animals' behavioral responses to environmental toxicants. ood avoidance tests with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos L.) and northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus L.) as the test species were patterned after avian 5-d dietary LC50 tests. nimals in each treatment group were given free access to untreated feed and feed treated with various concentrations of methiocarb (3,5-dimethyl-4-(methylthio)-phenyl ethyl-carbamate), a widely used bird repellent. rior to food avoidance testing, 5-d dietary LC50 tests were conducted to provide baseline data for comparison. easure of avoidance response was estimated from a log (dose)-probit (response) analysis. he percentage of total (treated plus untreated) feed consumption as treated feed consumption was the response variable. he detectable dietary concentration at which mallards and bobwhite began to avoid a specific contaminant was determined by calculating a median food avoidance concentration 50 (FAC50). n the absence of detectable avoidance behavior, test animals' total feed consumption can be expected to consist of equal amounts of treated and untreated feed. n effective avoidance index (EAI), LC50/FAC50, was used as a measure of toxicant's "margin of safety." alculated results for methiocarb were as follows: for mallard, LC50=7, 469 ppm, FAC50=145 ppm, EAI=51.5; for bobwhite LC50=827 ppm, FAC50=95 ppm, EAI=8.7.