ORGANOCHLORINE CONTAMINANTS IN MIGRANT AND RESIDENT PREY OF PEREGRINE FALCONS, FALCO-PEREGRINUS, IN PANAMA, VENEZUELA, AND MEXICO

During 1984-1989, we collected Peregrine Falcon prey species, in the fall and the following spring, in Panama, Venezuela, and Mexico, to determine the levels of organochlorine contamination. The mean DDE levels, by country, for fall samples ranged from 0.28 to 0.68 ppm; for spring samples the DDE levels ranged from 0.02 to 1. 1 2 ppm. The spring migrants collected in Mexico exceeded 1.00 ppm DDE, the more conservative DDE level considered sufficient in prey to produce decreased productivity in peregrines. Some species collected in the fall arrived with more than 1.00 ppm DDE in their tissues.