Ron R. Odom

From 1973 through 1976, 2,066 clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) were banded at eight locations on the Georgia coast, using an airboat and night-lighting technique. Banding success was high with a maximum 2-hour catch of 87 rails, and an average banding rate of approximately 16 birds per hour. Most rails were banded during the preseason period with migration-winter banding limited by winter tide conditions. Band recoveries of Georgia clapper rails (R. t. waynei) suggested significantly more movement than was previously recorded in the literature. A direct recovery rate of 0.63 percent was...

Ninety-four specimens of rail, crab. and snail collected at ten separate locations along the Georgia Coast between October, 1971, and September, 1973 were analysed for residual mercury. Excessive concentrations of mercury were found in specimens of clapper rail, sora, and periwinkle snail, collected from the Brunswick and Savannah estuaries. Actual concentrations within these two river systems ranged from 0.11 ppm. in one sample of sora breast muscle to 16.8 ppm. in periwinkle snail tissue (fresh wet weight basis). Mercury contamination exceeded the F.D.A. tolerance level of 0.50...