CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REPRODUCTIVE INDEXES OF BIRDS NESTING IN TREE HOLLOWS UNDER CONDITIONS OF TECHNOGENIC POLLUTION

Study was made of the emissions of a copper-smelting plant upon the re productive parameters of the great tit, coal tit, and goldfinch. With an increase in the toxic load, which is determined by the level of hea vy metals in the alimentary canal and feces, there reliably occurs a d ecrease in the success of nesting and the number of fledglings per nes t. The nesting success is reduced only in the goldfinch, which experie nces the greatest load among the species studied. The indices of the g rowth and development of the nestlings prior to their flight from the nest (body mass, length of the wing and the tail) negatively correlate with the accumulation of heavy metals in the skeleton.