Influence of a diet of flouride-fed Cockerels on reproductive performance of captive American kestrels

Abstract In 1982, twenty-four pairs of captive American kestrels ( Falco sparverius ) were forced to renest by removal of their first clutches 6 days after their completion. Immediately following, each of three groups of eitht pairs was randomly assigned to one of three daily dietary regimes for 10 days: (1) three 1-day old cockerels with background levels of F − (62·4 ± 51 ppm, mean ± SD) in their femurae, (2) two 10-day old cockerels with 4512 ± 810 pp of F − in their femurae, (3) two 10-day old cockerels with 7690 ± 417 ppm of F − in their femurae. Fluoride levels in femurae of treated kestrels were significantly (P