One of last year's Decorah bald eagles has died from lead shot poisoning

One of the bald eagles hatched in the 2020 season from the Decorah nest has been found dead along the Iowa River near Iowa City. "D35" was found buried in snow, with only the antenna from her transmitter visible. The eagle's body was taken to Save Our Avian Raptors, a group supporting bald eagles and other raptors, and a necropsy was performed. The conclusion: D35 died due to lead poisoning from consuming lead shot. An X-ray and an analysis of her digestive tract found a #6 lead shot pellet in her stomach. The X-ray discovered smaller shot pieces eroded by her strong stomach acids. D35 also had high levels of lead in her blood and body fluids. Said a post on the Raptor Resource Project, "How did lead shot kill D35? Scavenging animals consume lead when they eat animal carcasses or gut piles that contain lead shot or lead shrapnel. This is completely preventable! Many hunters make a conscious decision to hunt ethically and change hunting traditions in their families for the better, which includes moving to non-lead options. We can and should buy non-toxic/unleaded ammo for all game hunting. It protects everyone who eats the game we put on our tables and prevents the lead-related death of non-target species, like bald eagles, that eat carcasses and gut piles." Hunters use #6 shot for taking medium-sized and larger upland game birds. #6 is generally the smallest load for pheasant, grouse, or chukars, but hunters use it on game ranging from squirrels to turkey. Said the post, "We've tended to focus on deer hunting, which takes larger bullets and slugs. But small game shot also poisons eagles....Lead poisoning is the leading cause of mortality for adult female bald eagles."