Scavenging birds at risk of ingesting fragments of lead bullets from kangaroo and deer carcasses in south-eastern Australia

Abstract

Exposure of scavenging wildlife to lead from ammunition is a worldwide problem for wildlife management, but there has been little research on this topic in Australia. To examine which species of scavenging birds are potentially at risk of harmful exposure to lead, we deployed camera-traps to observe avian scavenger behaviour on carcasses of non-native and native mammals shot with lead-based bullets in two different locations in Victoria. We monitored 30 Sambar Deer Rusa unicolor carcasses in temperate eastern Victoria and 48 kangaroo Macropus spp. carcasses in semi-arid north-western Victoria. At least eight avian taxa scavenged from carcasses, including Wedge-tailed Eagles Aquila audax , Little Eagles Hieraaetus morphnoides , Brown Goshawks Accipiter fasciatus , Whistling Kites Haliastur sphenurus , ravens/crows Corvus spp., and three species belonging to the family Artamidae. Fifty-six percent of all carcasses were visited by birds. Corvids visited the most carcasses and typically arrived first, whereas Wedge-tailed Eagles arrived second but individually spent more time feeding. Our results indicate that a diverse avian scavenger community consumes carcasses of shot mammals in Australia, and consequently could be exposed to lead from bullet fragments.