In the wild, young eagles are generally hatched from mid-March to very early April.  They remain in the nest for about three months.  Then, when they are old enough to leave the nest, they remain with their parents for another three months, being fed as necessary and learning what they need to know about catching fish and finding their own food.

Under normal circumstances, the parents begin their migration south about September 1, with the young eagles staying behind in their familiar territory for another month or six weeks gaining experience and self-sufficiency in their home territory. Then, when instinct eventually kicks in, the young eagles start moving south, but doing so fully equipped to make the trip.

The bird released on Labor Day at Westover did not have the three months of parental care after leaving the nest.  She had an old fracture that was likely suffered while she was still in the nest. As a result, she apparently was unable to fly along with her parents.  While they cared for her on the ground for a short time, they eventually gave up and moved on.  This bird would have died had it not been captured and brought in for care.

 Due to the extent of the injury, we had to keep the bird hospitalized for two months.  While we gave her very high quality care, and did our best to see that she can fly well and do other “eagle stuff”, we are no substitute for her parents, and being fed in a cage is no substitute for experience in the wild.  She still has much to learn!

 We chose to release this bird on the James River at Westover plantation, right across the river from the James River National Wildlife Refuge,  because the area has the highest concentration of bald eagles in this part of the United States.  There are literally over a hundred eagles within a one-mile radius of the release site on almost any given day, many of them immature birds. The river there is clean, shallow, and full of fish. It is certain that the eagle we released will be able to associate with other birds of her age class, learn from them, and even steal food from them if necessary to survive. 

Even though there are more eagles on Eastern Shore than there have been in decades, there is still not a concentration as dense as exists on the James River.  Only one in three of the young birds hatched this year will reach adulthood, so we wanted to give this bird the second chance she otherwise would not have had, and make it the best chance possible.