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A Single High Lead Dose Altered Blood Cells in Great Tit Chicks

A juvenile great tit calling from a perch
Research: Physiology · Conservation: Threats

In a Polish study, a single experimental lead exposure changed red blood cells in great tit (Parus major) nestlings. In the study, published in Scientific Reports on 18 August 2026, the higher lead dose produced smaller erythrocytes and altered their shape, while abnormalities in the cell nuclei became more frequent as the dose increased.

The researchers exposed nestlings once to one of two dietary lead levels and then examined the size, shape and nuclear structure of their erythrocytes. Lead is known to affect blood formation in birds, but changes in the dimensions and form of individual blood cells have received less attention.

The strongest morphometric changes occurred at the higher exposure level: erythrocytes were smaller and their shape differed from those of less-exposed birds. Nuclear abnormalities also showed a dose-dependent pattern, with a greater frequency as lead exposure increased.

The authors suggest that these changes in erythrocyte morphology could provide a sensitive way to detect biological effects of lead pollution in birds. The result suggests that these changes in blood-cell structure can be detected after a single exposure.

Sources and image credit

  1. Markowski, M., Wawrzyniak, J., Kaliński, A., Glądalski, M., Skwarska, J., Zieliński, P., Boczek, O., & Bańbura, J. (2026). Effects of experimental lead exposure on erythrocyte morphometrics and nuclear abnormalities in nestling great tits Parus major. Scientific Reports.Peer-reviewed open-access primary study published 18 August 2026. A single exposure to two dietary lead levels altered erythrocyte morphometry in great tit nestlings; higher exposure reduced cell size and nuclear abnormalities increased with dose.

Image: Juvenile great tit (Parus major) in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, 9 July 2023. Photo: Caroline Legg / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Representative juvenile image; not a bird from the Polish lead-exposure study. · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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