Preliminary study on feeding ecology and heavy metal accumulation of white-spectacled bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos), Antalya - Turkey

Abstract

From 2001 to 2003, the food diversity and the accumulation of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Mn and Fe) in the tissues (kidney, bone, muscle, lungs, liver and heart) and eggs (yolks and eggshells) of White-spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos), only spread out in Turkish Mediterranean region, were investigated. We found that the species was nourished omnivorously with 42 species of 20 plant family and 24 species of 13 animal orders. The statistical analysis (ANOVA) showed that there was a statistically significant difference between ratios of heavy metal accumulations in the tissues and the eggs (F 6,1169 = 93.69; P<0.0001), following the order Fe>Ni>Cu>Mn> Cr> Pb>Cd. It was found that kidney and bones accumulated considerably high levels of heavy metals compared to the other tissues. The population status and the pollution levels were discussed in terms of the conservation of the species. © by PSP 2006.