Identification of origins of lesser snow geese by X-ray spectrometry

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Abstract
An attempt to apply computer-controlled. X-ray spectrometric methods for the identification of origins of waterfowl, through the analysis of chemical elements in their primary flight feathers, is described. Materials were gathered from three geographically distinct populations of wild lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens). They were laundered, dried, and irradiated by 25 mCi (1 Ci = 37 GBq) Americium 241. Chemical spectra were developed using a lithium-drifted silicon detector, and a computer-controlled pulse-height analyzer that provided results in 512 channels of emission energy between about 2.3 and 40 keV. Computer programs were written or adapted to process our data. Multivariate discriminant functions were used (among other techniques) to examine potential significant differences between populations, and between different year classes within one population. Attempts were made to classify unknown feathers through use of discriminant functions. Best results were obtained by measuring the areas under K alpha peaks of emission energy for recognizable chemical elements in the spectra and using those, and the times for analysis, as significant variables. Two other methods of using the data are compared with that method. Efforts to discriminate geographically different populations, and to classify unknowns are encouraging. However, there are residual problems to be dealt with.