An unusual case of lead poisoning in a honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus)

Abstract

The diagnosis and treatment of a case of lead poisoning in a honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) are described. Presenting signs were diarrhoea and weakness. Lead poisoning was suspected after radiography and confirmed by measuring the lead concentration in a venous blood sample. Comparison values of venous lead concentrations in healthy racing pigeons (Columba livia) were established. A method for the removal of lead shor from the gizzard of birds with a bronchoscope and grasping forceps under fluoroscopic control is described.

Lead Poisoning in Wild Birds in Europe and the Regulations Adopted by Different Countries

“…One case of lead poisoning in a Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) was also described in the Netherlands (Lumeij et al 1985). Pain and Amiard-Triquet (1993) found >15 µg/g of lead in dry weight of liver in three Common Buzzards (n=85), one Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) (n=1), and two Eurasian Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) (n=30) from France.…”

“…The first reports of lead poisoning in European waterfowl were from the 1960-70s in France (Hoffmann 1960, Hovette 1971, 1972, the UK (Olney 1960, Beer andStanley 1965), Italy (del Bono 1970) and the Scandinavian countries (Erne and Borg 1969, Danell and Anderson 1975, Holt et al 1978. The first cases in birds of prey were reported in the 1980s in falconry and wild birds (MacDonald et al 1983, Lumeij et al 1985.…”

La contaminación por munición de plomo en Europa: el plumbismo aviar y las implicaciones en la seguridad de la carne de caza

“…Unos elevados niveles de plomo en hígado también fueron encontrados en ratoneros de Dinamarca (Clausen y Wolstrup 1979) y Polonia (Kitowski et al 2016(Kitowski et al , 2017b. En los Países Bajos también se ha descrito un caso de intoxicación por plomo en abejero europeo (Pernis apivorus) (Lumeij et al 1985). Tres ratoneros comunes (N=85), un azor común (Accipiter gentilis) (N=1), y dos gavilanes comunes (Accipiter nisus) (N=30) de Francia presentaron niveles de plomo en hígado >15 µg/g p.s.…”

Review papers

“…In birds of prey, lead poisoning can occur as a secondary toxication after ingestion of prey or carrion containing lead shot (20). Most of the reported cases of lead poisoning in birds due to paint or other lead containing substances indoors concern psittacine species (11,25,33,37).…”