Avian Feathers as Bioindicator of Heavy Metal Pollution in Urban Degraded Woodland

Abstract

This study examined the level of three potentially toxic heavy metals; Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb) and Nickel (Ni) in the tail feathers samples collected from 16 avian species in urban degraded woodland in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. The bird species were trapped with the use of mist-nets placed randomly across the different habitat types in the reserve to trap four feeding guilds passerines representing insectivores, granivores, omnivores and nectrivores. Before the feather samples from each species collected were analyzed using Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), it was heated to clarity, purified and diluted appropriately using distilled water. The results obtained for the Cd, Pb and Ni were in the range 0.231-1.745, 0.125-2.838 and 0.001-1.221 mg/kg respectively. The average concentration of Pb was notably higher in the insectivores, granivores and omnivores, while Cd accumulated in tail feathers of the nectrivores. The significantly high level of these heavy metals noted in the bird feathers provides a useful indication that they can be used to monitor level of contamination in the environment.