Canada geese die after ingesting lead pellets in DuPage County

A conservation group and law enforcement are investigating what they call a large uptick of Canada geese being diagnosed with lead poisoning near the Lombard Lagoon in the western suburb.

Between Nov. 14 and Dec. 10, more than two dozen geese were found to have lead toxicosis, commonly called lead poisoning, according to Sarah Reich, head veterinarian at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center in Willowbrook. She said the birds were first discovered by volunteers with Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. In the 27-day period, she said, 26 geese tested positive for lead poisoning, up from 12 in all of 2023. Eleven of the birds died.

Most of the sick birds were found on the shore of Lombard Lagoon, but three were found at a retention pond in Addison and two were found at North Terrace Pond in Villa Park, Reich said.

She said several of the birds ingested several hundred lead pellets, which are smaller than the sprinkles on a doughnut and can cause many health problems.

“When they ingest lead, it needs to be broken down and gets into their blood, causing neurological problems like wobbling or what we call drunk walking, seizures, tremors and it can also cause GI tract and respiratory tract problems. Many of the birds get diarrhea, then refuse to eat and end up with a high-pitched honk,” Reich said.

She added that the pellets were probably ingested in the grass the birds eat.

“They aren’t purposely eating it. More than likely it’s mixed in the grass,” Reich said.

Reich said that based on the size of the pellets, she believes they are bird shot, noting that there are three clubs within a 10-mile radius that offer members skeet and trap shooting.

“We know what it’s from, we just don’t know how it’s happening,” Reich said. “The pellets they are ingesting are bird shot. There’s nothing else that looks like that and has the volume. Bird shot had hundreds of pellets in each gun casing.”

Reich believes the birds are ingesting lead shot, but an officer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said there could be another source. The officer, who did not want to be named, said “it looks like sediment that could have been at the bottom of a waterway. It could be runoff, which would be an EPA concern, but it’s still pending investigation.”

Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, also said it was possible the lead was coming from a waterway.

“This year, with the drought conditions we’ve had, almost every bank of the DuPage River and all the retention ponds are at really low water levels. I wonder if anything got into any of the waterways that these birds frequent?” Prince said.

Regardless of where the lead is coming from, the treatment for geese with lead poisoning is complex, Reich said.

“We pull the metal from the blood with medication,” Reich said. “We have to get that lead out of their bodies and one way to do that is to do a stomach pump, but the challenge is that they need to be intubated. Basically, we pump water into their stomachs and tilt them so that it flows out. Then we take X-rays to track the movement of the pellets,” she explained. “If you’re lucky, you can get all the pellets out in one try, but a few of the birds had to have a second procedure.”

Reich and Prince said the Lombard Police Department was also notified. Reached by phone, Deputy Chief Joe Grage confirmed for the Sun-Times that the department filed a report, but suspected no foul play and referred the matter to the IDNR.

The Glen Oak Country Club is located about 3.5 miles from the Lombard Lagoon. Medinah Country Club is 7 miles away, and the Maywood Sportsmen’s Club in Elmhurst is 6.1 miles away, and although all offer skeet and trap shooting, it has not been determined that they are the source of the lead.

Jim Cardamone, general manager at Glen Oak, said the club is now in its 102nd year of offering skeet and trap shooting and nothing has changed there that would cause an uptick in geese lead poisonings.

Officials at Medinah and Maywood Sportsmen’s Club did not return requests for comment.

Canada geese, like all waterfowl, are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the state wildlife code. It is illegal to kill or remove geese or to destroy, move or disturb their active nests, eggs, or young without a permit from the IDNR.

IDNR spokesperson Jayette Bolinski said her agency was notified Dec. 10 of the poisoned geese, and an investigation is underway.

Illinois EPA spokesperson Kim Biggs said that the IDNR handles animals, but if the lead is determined to be coming from a specific site, her agency then would get involved.

Reich and other experts may not yet agree on where the lead is coming from, but they all seem to echo her sentiment on the recent uptick.

“It is bizarre. We’ve never seen this many birds from the same location with this many lead pellets. Lead is not an infectious disease. Previously, I’ve seen as many as two birds with lead poisoning, but to have more than 20 is kind of crazy.”