EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL METAL POLLUTION ON BREEDING POPULATIONS OF PIED AND COLLARED FLYCATCHERS IN NIEPOLOMICE FOREST, SOUTHERN POLAND

In 1990-93 the breeding performance of pied and collared flycatcher po pulations (Ficedula hypoleuca and Ficedula albicollis) was studied in Niepolomice Forest at Stanislawice (Cracow Province). Concentrations o f the non-essential elements cadmium and lead in bird tissues were hig her than those measured at Tavelsjo (Sweden), the reference site (Nyho lm et al., 1994). The highest cadmium concentrations, up to 0.35 mu g/ g, were found in liver. The highest lead levels, up to 1.09 mu g/g, oc curred in breastbone samples. Levels of copper, zinc and iron were clo se to physiological norms. The main source of these elements in nestli ngs was likely to have been their diet. The number of hedged nestlings (3.2-5.2) in Stanislawice was lower than in Tavelsjo (6). The high pe rcentages of nestlings with low levels of haemoglobin suggest that thi s may be the main factor contributing to the lower survival rates at S tanislawice. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.