Food habits and organochlorine contaminants in the diet of black skimmers, Galveston Bay, Texas, USA

More than 500 food items of nestling Black Skimmers were identified representing 18 species of fish and 2 invertebrates. DDE and poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the only contaminants consistently detected in the black skimmer diet, carcass, and egg samples. Eggs contained 14 times the level of PCBs detected in the fish diet.