TABLE 3.

Comparison of E. coli strains collected from juvenile (“flightless”) common terns and ring-billed gulls at the Duluth, MN, location^a

Comparison		No. of E. coli isolatesc	P value
Speciesb	Yr
CT vs RBG	2002	25, 57	0.78
CT vs RBG	2003	56, 11	0.93
CT vs RBG	2006	11, 31	0.95
RBG	2002 vs 2003	57, 11	0.08
RBG	2003 vs 2005	11, 65	<0.01
RBG	2005 vs 2006	65, 31	0.01
CT	2002 vs 2003	25, 56	<0.01
CT	2002 vs 2006	25, 11	<0.01
CT	2003 vs 2006	56, 11	<0.01

^aHFERP fingerprint patterns from different avian species and from the same bird species in different years were compared by MANOVA.

^bRBG, ring-billed gull; CT, common tern.

^cNumbers of isolates in the groups compared. All E. coli strains were isolated from juvenile birds on Interstate Island in the Duluth-Superior harbor.