Abstract
Lead toxicosis in terrestrial birds has been receiving much attention in recent years (for review, see Fisher et al. 2006). Particularly, much of this attention has been focused around the critically endangered California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) because of the large percentage of free-flying condors that are exhibiting and dying from lead poisoning (Parish et al. 2007). Church et al. (2006) has found that the majority of lead ingested by the condors originates from spent rifle ammunition in offal and big game not retrieved by hunters, thus substantiating the suppositions by Pattee et al. (1990), Miller et al. (1998), and Hunt et al. (2005) that the majority of lead poisoning in condors came from hunting practices. However, condors may not be the only scavenging species at risk from ingesting offal and rifle shot carrion.