....It is not just strong stomach acids. In reality it is the crop gizzard where pebbles and bullets or pellets reside for long periods while they are ground away and then easily absorbed into the blood stream. A pellet or two will kill any bird....
Maybe, you could clarify some confusion that I have about this.
We're told that Eagles, which consume lead laced gut piles and lost lead shot game animals, succumb to lead poisoning quickly. Thus, the pictures of stacked dead Eagles, collected during the fall hunting season. How does that reconcile with the reality that one or two lead pellets require long periods in the gizzard of an Eagle to result in lethal blood levels of lead?
Apparently, lethal blood levels of lead have not been established in Eagles, or so says sources like Soar Raptors. Where can I learn about the absolute avian lethality of one or two lead pellets, from I would assume hunters and shooters? Is it settled science that only lead discharged from a firearm is toxic to birds, or was the one to two pellet example used for emphasis?
While not as commonly toxic to Eagles as lead, are birds susceptible to copper and zinc poisoning? I ask because copper and brass are likely components of lead free bullets. Do you think that while rare to less common, that scientific fact could result in calls for or actual banning of the use of current lead free hunting bullets?
