‘The most American thing I’ve ever heard’: Bald eagles are getting lead poisoning from eating bullets

Whoever’s writing reality these days is a real hack and the metaphors they’re using are way too on the nose to be believable. Case in point, Bald eagles, the majestic national bird that’s a symbol of strength and freedom, are now suffering horrific neurologic problems from consuming lead bullets.

This sad avian news update came via the World Bird Sanctuary on X, who posted a distressing issue of a confused and bedraggled bald eagle suffering from lead poisoning:

This eagle is suffering from neurological symptoms as a result of lead poisoning. Over 80% of the Bald Eagles admitted to our hospital are suffering from lead poisoning after ingesting fragments of lead ammunition. Choose lead free ammunition to protect our eagles and wildlife. pic.twitter.com/1uV2SeNNNd

— World Bird Sanctuary (@WBSSTL) February 18, 2026

They explain that an astonishing 80% of all bald eagles admitted to their facilities are suffering from some form of lead poisoning. This condition is caused by them eating tiny fragments of lead ammunition, which find their way into their prey and then into the eagles.

So why use lead at all?

The sanctuary urges hunters to use lead-free ammunition to protect the eagles. A peek at hunting forums suggests that in 2026 there’s no good reason to use lead ammunition, as steel, copper or tungsten ammunition does just as good a job at obliterating wildlife as lead does (and anyway, lead ammunition is outlawed in California and banned for waterfowl on a federal level).

As one glowing testimonial for lead-free ammo explains:

“I started because I worried about contaminating my family’s food. About 20 wild boar and 30 roe deer later, I’m also finding copper hollow points to be perfectly effective. Superior penetration on heavy game imo. I even use Norma MHPs in my 9mm sidearm; the one time I needed it it mushroomed perfectly in the boar’s skull.”

The only real benefit of lead ammunition is that it’s generally cheaper. But, not to put too fine a point on it, if you’re hunting with the intention of eating what you shoot, you really don’t want to be filling the carcass with lead fragments, or you’ll end up like those poor bald eagles.

There’s something poetic about one of the core symbols of America becoming poisoned and brain-damaged because it’s been exposed to too many bullets. I mean, it’s not good poetry and it’s the kind of ham-fisted symbolism that’d get you laughed out of a creative writing course, but such is our reality.