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1 August 2013 Use of Stable Isotopes of Hydrogen to Predict Natal Origins of Juvenile Merlins and Northern Harriers Migrating Through the Florida Keys
Sara Ress Wittenberg, Sarah E. Lehnen, Kimberly Smith
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Abstract

Stable isotopes of hydrogen have been used as a tool to determine migratory connectivity, or to link breeding and wintering grounds. Because isotopes serve as intrinsic markers, eliminating the need for birds to be relocated after an initial marking, they hold the potential to be an extremely useful tool. From 1998 to 2003 we gathered feathers from juvenile Merlins (Falco columbarius) and Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) during their fall migration in the Florida Keys and analyzed them isotopically in an attempt to determine their natal origins. Our results failed to reveal the natal origins of at least one of these two birds of prey.

© 2013 by The Cooper Ornithological Society. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp.
Sara Ress Wittenberg, Sarah E. Lehnen, and Kimberly Smith "Use of Stable Isotopes of Hydrogen to Predict Natal Origins of Juvenile Merlins and Northern Harriers Migrating Through the Florida Keys," The Condor 115(3), 451-455, (1 August 2013). https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2013.120130
Received: 2 August 2012; Accepted: 1 April 2013; Published: 1 August 2013
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