Lead found in Wellington’s kākā chicks

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-07-19 08:32

New Zealand

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Researchers sampled almost 140 kākā nestlings born in Wellington over two seasons, finding that more than a third had detectable levels of lead in their blood, something that’s usually rare in wild populations. Despite the potentially toxic effects of lead exposure, all observed nestlings survived to fledge, prompting the authors to question whether this city population has built up an “innate tolerance” to lead concentrations at these levels. The authors call for long-term monitoring to get a better sense of how lead exposure could be affecting this group of urban birds.