Loading...
No evidence of sex differences in plastic ingestion by Sable Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) chicks
Reynolds, Jennell de Jersey, Alix M Grant, Megan L Rivers-Auty, Jack Griffin, Claire Lavers, Jennifer L
Reynolds, Jennell
de Jersey, Alix M
Grant, Megan L
Rivers-Auty, Jack
Griffin, Claire
Lavers, Jennifer L
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Affiliation
EPub Date
Issue Date
2026-01-23
Submitted Date
Subject Terms
Collections
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Other Titles
Abstract
Sex-based differences in plastic ingestion by wildlife are understudied. Studies from the 1980s of birds shot at sea found no sex differences in plastic ingestion by post-fledging and adult birds, but nest-bound age classes remain unstudied. We quantified plastic ingestion by 114 Sable Shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) fledglings from Lord Howe Island, Australia, in 2023, and compared the frequency of ingestion, number of pieces, mass, and colour and type composition between sexes. We found no difference in the frequency of plastic ingestion, the mass, number of pieces, colour, or type composition of ingested plastics between female and male fledglings. There was no evidence of a sex ratio bias in the sampled population. The genetic sex of chicks is not a predictor of ingested plastics, but the potential for a biased sex ratio among chicks and adults could compound ongoing population declines.
Citation
Alexander L. Bond, Jennell Reynolds, Alix M. de Jersey, Megan L. Grant, Jack Rivers-Auty, Claire Griffin, Jennifer L. Lavers, No evidence of sex differences in plastic ingestion by Sable Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) chicks, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 225, 2026, 119324, ISSN 0025-326X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119324.
Publisher
Journal
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Embedded videos
Type
Journal Article
Item Description
NHM Repository
Series/Report no.
ISSN
0025-326X
EISSN
1879-3363