Pierwsze pełne podsumowanie informacji o rozmieszczeniu i liczebności wszystkich stwierdzonych w Poznaniu gatunków ptaków. Dla wielu gatunków zestawiono wyniki wieloletnich badań lub inwentaryzacji na terenie całego miasta bądź na wybranych powierzchniach próbnych. Dla wybranych gatunków omówiono najważniejsze etapy ich synurbizacji. Pracę uzupełniają mapy, tabele i wykresy.

The book presents the first comprehensive study on the birds dwelling in Poznań over the last 150 years. The presence of 255 species has been documented, including 150 breeding ones. The group of non-breeding species included 10 of unknown provenience in the city. The distribution and abundance of each species is discussed and an increase in the abundance of 44 species has been established. In subsequent decades of the 20th century a directional increase of the accumulated number of species has been observed (y = 2447,1 ln(x) - 18340, R2 = 0,933, p < 0,0001), while an increase in the number of species has not been statistically significant. For a group of selected species including blackbird, jay, magpie, fieldfare and crested lark the stages of synurbisation have been discussed. Over 32% of the species reported are those feeding on invertebrates and about 43% are those nesting on water or on the ground. In the years 1966-2000 a series of 129 quantitative observations have been made by the cartographic method on 55 study plots representing different city habitats. The presence of 80 breeding species has been established. Statistical analysis has been performed for 65 bird communities. On the basis of similarities between the communities (the agglomeration method WPGMA), eight groups of communities have been distinguished. The effects of localisation of the study area and the degree of anthropopressure on the species diversity and density of birds in communities have been also analysed. It has been found that only the combined effect of the study area and anthropopressure has significantly differentiated the number of species (ANCOVA, F4, 55= 2,5825, p = 0,047). The effect of localisation of the study area on the density of birds in communities has been found statistically insignificant, whereas the effect of anthropopressure has been significant (ANCOVA, F2, 55 = 5,3187, p = 0,008). For five study areas (only green areas in the city) a comprehensive analysis of the changes in bird communities over long time interval has been made.