Trumpeter swans die from lead poisoning near Annandale

[Realtree]

Trumpeter swans die from lead poisoning near Annandale (2007-03-13)

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has determined that a die-off of about 15 trumpeter swans at the north end of Clearwater Lake near Annandale during February was caused by lead poisoning from old shotgun pellets.

The swans had ingested the pellets while feeding in a shallow open-water channel between Clearwater Lake and Grass Lake. The rush-lined portion of northern Clearwater Lake has long been a popular duck hunting area. Many decades of duck hunting has apparently left a significant concentration of lead shotgun pellets on the lake bottom in the channel where the swans were wintering.

Although a few swans had wintered in this area previously, DNR Conservation Officer Brian Mies said this year he counted up to 48 swans using the channel. After receiving reports of sick and dying swans, he picked up three dead swans to determine the cause of death. Two swans had lead shotgun pellets in their gizzards and other symptoms of lead poisoning. The analysis of the third swan has not yet been completed.

With the current return of warm weather, trumpeter swans have begun dispersing from their wintering sites. Only one swan was seen at the Clearwater Lake/Grass Lake bridge on March 8. In future years, this location will need to be checked in early winter to actively discourage swans from wintering there, according to Carrol Henderson, DNR Nongame Wildlife Program supervisor.

Since 1987, all waterfowl hunting in Minnesota requires the use of nontoxic shotgun pellets to avoid the poisoning of ducks, geese, swans, loons and other wildlife. However, old deposits of lead on the bottom of lakes and marshes may continue to pose a threat to the state's waterfowl and waterbirds in some areas for many years to come, according to the DNR.

Minnesota's trumpeter swan population is currently estimated at more than 200 nesting pairs and 2,200 birds. Trumpeter swans are listed as a state threatened species

[UncleDave]

This is a shame.  Nice to see they are still doing okay statewide though.

[kenhuntin]

I wanted to post this in the "should lead shot be banned" thread
I bet the number of waterfowl that get sick and tuck into the cattails and die is phenomenal.
I wonder if after they decompose and re expose that lead how many times a particular piece of lead shot can kill a bird
 any thoughts?

[Woody]

or how many animals who may eat the dead birds in the cat tails might ingest the lead themselves...and then the cycle begins.  From there it may go to the eagle or hawk that picks up the animal.  Then when that bird dies another animal eats is and ingests the pellets...and on and on and on....

Just a thought. :hang: