AN ESTIMATION OF HEAVY METAL ACCUMULATION IN HOUSE SPARROW (PASSER DOMESTICUS)

ABSTRACT

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. A small bird, it has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird. Birds on prey are excellent indicators of healthy ecosystem, as they are top predators occupying multiple tropic levels and various ecological niches. Predatory birds are especially best bio-indicators of bio-accumulative compounds such as methyl mercury because these compounds bio-concentrate in their prey. The use of feathers to evaluate exposure of birds to heavy metals like mercury is a common method. Early formed feathers are molted up to several times per year, and new feather growth quickly followed by replaced molted feathers. In the present experiment the opportunistic samples of dead house sparrows were collected and analysed for the accumulation of lead, zinc, cadmium and mercury by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. From the results it was found that the level of these heavy metals are higher in the samples collected from the urban areas than the rural areas and also higher when compared with permissible limits of FAO.

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