On June 13, an adult Bald Eagle was rescued in Accomack County. The bird was found eating in a ditch near a poultry processing plant and was unable to fly away. A local wildlife rehabilitator rescued the eagle; although the bird was unable to fly, it was feisty and mobile, and the rehabilitator had to chase the grounded bird through briars to rescue it. Once the eagle was captured, the rehabilitator transferred the bird to the Wildlife Center for assessment and treatment.
On presentation at the Center, Bald Eagle #19-1573 was bright, alert, and still incredibly feisty; the eagle proved to be very strong when handled by the veterinary team for an examination.
The eagle had severely soiled feathers, and attempts to clean the feathers revealed the substance to be non-water soluble and very sticky. It’s possible that the eagle got stuck in the wastewater pond behind the poultry processing plant; the wildlife rehabilitator who rescued the eagle indicated that the substance on the bird’s feather seemed similar to a greasy substance found on the feathers of hawks and gulls that she had rescued in or near the wastewater lagoons.
The eagle was in poor-to-moderate body condition, and the soiled feathers indicate the eagle may have been grounded for some time.
The remainder of the eagle’s physical exam was within normal limits. Blood work was unremarkable, and the eagle had subclinical levels of lead that would not require treatment. Radiographs revealed a large amount of food material in the stomach but were otherwise unremarkable as well.
No obvious signs of injury or trauma could be identified during the initial exam, aside from the severely soiled feathers. The veterinary team offered the eagle supportive care and monitored the bird for signs of trauma or chronic injury that may emerge later.
After several days in the hospital, the eagle remained bright and alert with no new symptoms. On June 18, the team moved the eagle to a small outdoor flight pen with a large tub to allow the bird a chance to bathe himself and clean the severely soiled feathers. The substance on the feathers has not yet been identified, but veterinary intern Dr. Karra plans to test different cleaning techniques on several feathers sampled from the bird. If she’s able to identify a method to remove the sticky substance, the veterinary team will bathe the eagle later in the week.
