Heavy metal contamination in excreta of avian species from Ludhiana district of Punjab

The present study was planned with an objective to detect the level of heavy metals in excreta of five bird species; House Crow, Common Myna, Blue Rock Pigeon, Ring Dove and Cattle Egret collected from agrifield areas of district Ludhiana. In excreta of all the birds 16 elements were detected through ICAP-AES, out of which As, B, Cd, Pb were heavy metals and Fe, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mn, Mg, Ca, P, S, K, Na were essential elements. The concentration of all metals except K, Mg and Na varied significantly at 5% level of significance among the species. In all the five species, the range of arsenic (0.422-2.142 ppm) and boron (24.50-43.20 ppm) was observed above normal range i.e. 0.01-0.2 and 0.13-5 ppm respectively. The level of cadmium was excreted above normal range (0.02-1.5 ppm) by Cattle egret (1.880 ppm) only. The concentration of lead ranged from 3.9 to 11.73 ppm in five species. Species specific differences in metal level may be attributed to the trophic level relationships. The significant variations in metal level among the species throw light on the fact that there are significant fluctuations in the level of contamination of the environment where these birds live and excreta can be used as an indicator of such contamination in wild birds without harming them.