Hey Amarillo:
Great quip on gang bangers needing a website. Really!
I'm completely speculating here, but probably the most likely source of high lead in urban pigeons compared to their rural bretherin is all the lead-based paint on peeling window sills, nesting and roosting sites (bridges, etc.), and perhaps to some extent from abandoned industrial sites.
All, as another somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion to the ongoing deniers, each of you has a chance to be a citizen scientist at home! Just take a loft of pigeons, Johnny house of Bobwhite, maybe a coop of chickens or pheasants, perhaps even your granddaughter's parakeet, cockatiel, or wife's parrot or macaw (caution- this can get expensive real quick), and just add lead shot.
Put a couple ounces in their grit tray or cup, maybe a square load of #8 from our favorite gauge the 16, a spreader load of #6, and a high brass load of #5... I'm talking a real smorgasbord here. Then just sit back and enjoy! Take careful notes... depending on the bird or situation you may have mortalities within hours or days. If breeding, you may see the chicks die, especially squab getting pumped full of pellets by the adults. Hens may stop laying. Some adults may grow listless, and even be cannibalized by their pen mates! There is just no end to the entertainment and learning opportunities for the whole family! Report back and tell us what you discover!
Seriously, I appreciate some of the discussion that is now occurring here. Nice to see people actually examining some of the record, picking it apart where they can, and saying "hmmm" where they can't. Much more valuable and instructive than just lobbing bombs at me. Maybe not nearly as much fun for you, but whatever...
Here is some more science:
Artmann, J.W., Martin, E.M., 1975. Incidence of ingested lead shot in Sora rails. J. Wildlife Manage. 39, 514–519.
Baksi, S.N., Kenny, A.D., 1978. Effect of lead ingestion on Vitamin D3 metabolism in Japanese quail. Res. Commun. Chem. Path.
Pharmacol. 21, 375–378.
Beintema, N.H., 2001. Lead poisoning in waterbirds. International
Update Report 2000. Wetlands International, Wageningen.
Best, T.L., Garrison, T.E., Schmitt, C.G., 1992. Availability and
ingestion of lead shot by mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) in
southeastern New Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 37, 287–
292.
