PATIENT:  Bald Eagle, #11-1511

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Williamsville, Virginia

CAUSE OF ADMISSION:  Unable to fly, tail injury

ADMISSION DATE:  June 29, 2011

PROGNOSIS:   Died July 17, 2011

A young Bald Eagle — this year’s young — was found on June 28 in Bath County, Virginia.  The young bird was spotted in a field, unable to fly more than a foot off the ground.  Rescuers captured the bird and transported it to the Wildlife Center on June 29.

Dr. Miranda Sadar examined the bird and found broken tail feathers — which were infected and infested with maggots.  This injury is quite similar to the young eagle from Maryland that arrived at the Center in early June.  This time around, however, it was the WCV staff that had to painstakingly flush and remove all of the maggots and fly eggs on the bird’s tail.  While we can’t be sure of the initial condition of the Maryland eaglet, the Bath County eagle’s tail injury looks more severe — and Dr. Miranda is concerned with how many maggots were present.  Maggots release a toxin that can cause severe damage.

Nearly all of the eagle’s tail feathers are broken and the young bird is also thin.  Blood was drawn for an emergency panel — and the WCV team found that the eagle has low levels of lead in its system.  A course of antibiotics, anti-fungals, pain medications, and fluids were started.  The lead levels will be checked again in the weeks to come.

Dr. Miranda will continue to monitor the bird closely and will also perform an additional tail flush this afternoon, to ensure that no maggots remain.  Radiographs will be taken next week, once the bird is more stable.

June 30 update

Bald Eagle #11-1511 was much brighter this morning when Dr. Miranda checked on it.  Yesterday afternoon, at the second flushing of the tail wounds, Dr. Miranda gave the bird an oral medication to kill the maggots that were still present.  The medication took effect last night and the rehabilitation staff found a sea of dead maggots at the bottom of the bird’s indoor enclosure this morning.  The eagle will continue to receive fluids, antibiotics, and pain medications until the tail injury starts to heal.

July 5 update

The tail injury of the Bath County Bald Eagle continues to heal — the wounds are scabbing over.  On Monday, July 4, the eagle was anesthetized for radiographs — Dr. Miranda didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.   An ophthalmic examination was also performed while the bird was under anesthesia.

At this point, the young Bald Eagle still hasn’t eaten on its own, so the veterinary team is hand-feeding the bird daily.  The pain medication that the bird was given in its first five days of hospitalization can be an appetite suppressant.  That course of medication was completed on July 3, so the veterinarians hope to see the eagle soon eating on its own.

July 11 update

Frustratingly enough, the Bath County Bald Eagle continues to refuse to eat on its own.  The veterinary team continue to hand feed the bird each day.

The tail injury is scabbed overly nicely — and while it still doesn’t look pretty, it’s much better than it was a week ago.  This eagle will be moved outside tomorrow morning, in hopes that being in the outdoors will encourage the bird to eat on its own.

July 18 update

On July 16, the Bath County Bald Eagle took a turn for the worse.  At morning treatments, the bird was very quiet, weak, and was also showing signs of respiratory distress.  Dr. Dave McRuer took blood from the eagle and performed an emergency panel – a diagnostic test for blood.  The eagle was found to be slightly anemic.  After treatments, the eagle was placed in the Center’s oxygen chamber in hopes of relieving some of the respiratory distress.

The next day, the young Bald Eagle was in the same condition.  The bird was taken out for morning treatments – fluids and antibiotics.  Shortly after treatments, the eagle died.

Dr. Dave and team performed a necropsy on the bird, though Dr. Dave strongly suspected some sort of lung infection based off of the respiratory signs.  That suspicion was confirmed.  Dr. Dave reports, “The eagle had a severe, multi-focal case of aspergillosis, a fungal infection that birds are VERY sensitive to if they are immunosuppressed in any way.  Given that this eagle was extremely thin at admission and had a severely maggot-infested wound — this would squarely place him in the immunosuppressed category.”

The Center depends on the donations of caring individuals to provide veterinary care to wildlife and training in wildlife veterinary medicine.  Please help!