Seasonal enumeration of fecal coliform bacteria from the feces of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) and Canada geese (Branta canadensis)

Abstract

Water suppliers have often implicated roosting birds for fecal contamination of their surface waters. Geese and gulls have been the primary targets of this blame although literature documenting the fecal coliform content of these birds is quite limited. To determine the actual fecal coliform concentrations of these birds, fecal samples from 249 ring-billed gulls and 236 Canada geese in Westchester County, N.Y., were analyzed over a 2-year period. Results indicate that gull feces contain a greater average concentration of fecal coliform bacteria per gram (3.68 x 10(8)) than do goose feces (1.53 x 10(4)); however, average fecal sample weights of the geese were more than 15 times higher than those of the gulls.