One of the most common wildlife crimes involving birds worldwide is malicious poisoning. Post-mortem examination and toxicological analysis are essential for a proper diagnosis of the cause of the poisoning. However, investigators often require an estimate of the time of death, which is best determined by identifying the stage of carcass decomposition. The aim of this article is to propose a scoring method to classify the stages of carcass decomposition and thus provide an estimate of the time of death in small-size raptors. This protocol can be used by practitioners, forensic veterinarians, researchers, authorities and personnel collecting carcasses in order to standardize methods and minimize subjectivity. For this purpose, 12 carcasses of Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) were exposed to external weather conditions (in the period 4–19 July 2019) in Murcia, Southeastern Spain. The ambient temperature and relative humidity, body core temperatures and carcass weights were measured at intervals over the study period. Necropsies were performed (2 birds at each interval) at 1–2 h, 24 h, 72 h, 96 h, 7 days and 15 days after death. The necropsy of a previously frozen bird was performed to act as a comparison with non-frozen fresh individuals. Six stages of the post-mortem autolytic process were selected: fresh carcass, moderate decomposition, advanced decomposition, very advanced decomposition, initial skeletal reduction and complete skeletal reduction. To classify the carcasses according to these categories, a scoring method is proposed considering 5 parameters: state of the eyeballs, tongue/oral cavity, pectoral muscle, internal organs and other features. Several parameters affecting the process of the decomposition are discussed.

全世界涉及鸟类的最常见的野生动植物犯罪之一是恶意中毒。验尸和毒理学分析对于正确诊断中毒原因至关重要。但是，研究人员通常需要估计死亡时间，这最好通过确定decomposition体分解的阶段来确定。本文的目的是提出一种评分方法，以对ify体分解的阶段进行分类，从而对小型猛禽的死亡时间进行估算。从业人员，法医兽医，研究人员，当局和收集cas体的人员均可使用此协议，以使方法标准化并使主观性降至最低。为此目的，将十二只cas（car）的尸体）在西班牙东南部的穆尔西亚（2019年7月4日至19日）暴露于外部天气条件下。在研究期间，每隔一段时间测量一次环境温度和相对湿度，人体核心温度和car体重量。死后1-2小时，24小时，72小时，96小时，7天和15天进行尸检（每个间隔两次）。进行先前冷冻的鸟的尸检，以与未冷冻的新鲜个体进行比较。尸体自溶过程的六个阶段被选择：新鲜的car体，中度分解，高级分解，非常高级的分解，初始骨骼还原和完全骨骼还原。为了根据这些类别对屠体进行分类，提出了一种计分方法，该方法考虑了5个参数：眼球状态，舌/口腔，胸肌，内脏器官等特征。讨论了影响分解过程的几个参数。