Bald eagle successfully rehabilitated

AMENIA —  When Chuck Dvorak heard his dog Willow barking up a storm on the afternoon of Jan. 6, he had to find out what the hubbub was about. What he discovered on the banks of the Webutuck Creek was a downed bald eagle, in need of medical attention and unable to fly.

After calling the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, state troopers, and others—it took 12 separate phone calls—Dvorak was finally directed to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which agreed to send over an environmental conservation officer (ECO). For the next two and a half hours, Dvorak waited with the eagle while the sun set, concerned for the bird’s well-being.

“It was getting dark, and we got the coyotes and the bears on my property. So I didn’t know if it was going to get injured.”

When ECO Daniel Franz arrived on the scene, he initiated a rescue procedure that involved wrapping the bird in a wet towel—a method that can soothe agitated birds—and was successful in getting the eagle to safety. One of North America’s largest birds with an average wingspan from 5 to 7.7 feet wide, Dvorak was shocked by the animal’s size once it was brought closer.

“When he brought it up, its head was as big as my boot! And I wear 10 1/2 or 11s.”

The eagle has landed… at a rehabilitation center

Though ECOs have the primary responsibility of enforcing the state’s environmental conservation laws, they are also professionals trained in the safe transportation of injured wildlife. For Dvorak’s eagle, this involved getting it to the Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center (FFF Wildlife Center), one of many local wildlife rehabilitation organizations that DEC works with. But even at that initial rescue, it seemed likely to Franz that the eagle’s path to recovery might be a bit more complicated than normal.

“When I was getting closer to it, I didn’t observe any physical damage. That raised a red flag for me. Impact injuries are the primary thing we’re called for, usually by train tracks or a roadside. Birds of prey are attracted to carcasses and carrion near roadways, and there have a much higher likelihood of impact injuries from passing cars or trains.”

At FFF Wildlife Center, it became clear that the eagle was suffering from a host of maladies, all stemming from a primarily ailment: lead poisoning. After a few days of treatment, the eagle wasn’t responding as well as it should have, and was sent to Cornell University’s Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital, where more advanced care and treatments were available.

There, Dvorak’s eagle was put under the care of Cynthia Hopf, a wildlife veterinarian and assistant clinical professor. Further testing revealed that the eagle was suffering not only from lead poisoning, but also rodenticide poisoning and a gastrointestinal tract infection.

Bald eagles are a bird species particularly sensitive to lead poisoning—if a small fragment of it ends up in one’s digestive system, it can lead to permanent neurological damage. This, among other symptoms of generalized weakness, can make the talons clench together tightly “like a ratchet,” completely inhibiting perching capacity.

So how did Dvorak’s eagle end up with lead in its system? According to Hopf, for birds of prey, the cause is usually hunting munition fragments remaining in carcasses, which the birds ingest. And while Hopf doesn’t see an amount of lead poisoning cases that make her overly concerned about widespread contamination, it can be the case that those telltale munition fragments are absent, and the exact source of the lead is a mystery.

The eagle is recovering… nicely

For the next three months, Dvorak’s eagle underwent “supportive and targeted” treatment for its illnesses. This included bacterial GI treatment, vitamin K doses (the antidote to rat poison), and a medicine that drew lead out of the bird’s system and into its stool.

From there, the bird was handled daily and assisted on the road to recovery with manual hydration and eating assistance. Luckily, Dvorak’s eagle was in a comparatively good state upon arrival—if the bird’s neurological or physical damage had been a bit more severe, supportive treatment could have involved teaching it how to walk and fly all over again.

Indeed, Dvorak reported he was told that “if I hadn’t seen the eagle, if it had been out there overnight, it might’ve not made it.”

The eagle has been released… successfully

On March 29, the eagle was released by DEC where it was rescued, and took off into a blue Amenia afternoon while Dvorak watched and filmed from the sidelines. All signs indicate that the creature has made a full and hearty recovery—days later, it was still flying and perching around the property.

A bird species that captured national sympathy through the late 20th century, the remarkable recovery of bald eagle populations from 417 known nesting pairs in 1963 to over 71,400 in 2020 is a source of hope for many as proof of the efficacy of concerted conservation efforts.

In the specific case of Dvorak’s eagle, to Franz, the opportunity to witness the rehabilitation process from beginning to end was a heartening reminder of the importance of treating wildlife with respect and care:

To contact an ECO to report an environmental crime or to report an incident, call 1-844-DEC-ECOS for 24-hour dispatch. For inquiries on injured or sick native wild animals, call the Cornell Wildlife Hospital at 607-253-3060. And for more local inquiries, contact the FFF Wildlife Center at 518-989-6534.