Two bald eagles released after rehabilitation
The two surviving bald eagles from the group of birds recovered from fields near Dagsboro on March 19 have been rehabilitated and released into the wild.
A team from Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Inc. released the last of the two surviving birds Monday at a field in Sussex County.
"It flew great," said Lisa Smith, executive director of Tri-State. "She took off from across the field" and then rose above the treeline.
Smith said the team was standing there talking and looked up a few minutes later.
"We saw an eagle circling," she said.
There's no way to be certain it was the same bird, she said, but in the days before the release, the bird was exercised in the Tri-State flight cage to make sure it was ready to fly, she said.
The other surviving bird, an immature female, was released last week at the Tri-State facility. It received similar, pre-release flight treatment.
The two birds were among several dead or sick bald eagles discovered in Sussex County over the weekend of March 19-20.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said one eagle was found dead near Dagsboro on March 19. More birds were found disoriented in a farm field about a mile away in the Piney Neck area near Indian River Bay. An additional bald eagle was found dead the following day.
Two of the disoriented birds were still alive and taken to Tri-State near Newark for care.
They were in such bad shape when they arrived, "they weren't standing," Smith said.
Over the next several days, teams at the center treated the birds both with oral and intravenous medications, Smith said.
No cause of the eagle deaths and illnesses has been released.
Weeks earlier, 13 bald eagles were found dead in a field in Federalsburg, Maryland. That case is also under investigation. On March 10, federal wildlife investigators said that test results found the birds did not die from disease or natural causes.
"Ruling out diseases such as avian influenza is important on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which has many poultry farms and an abundance of migratory birds," said Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Avian influenza can be spread from bird to bird and is relatively common among flocks of waterfowl.
Hibbard said in the Maryland case, state and federal officials are focusing on "human causes."
Bald eagles were removed from the threatened species list in 2007, and the number of birds in Maryland and Delaware has risen dramatically. But the birds can still be vulnerable to loss or changes in habitat. Storms and high winds, for instance, can demolish the massive nests or blow over trees. The birds also can collide with power lines.
Bald eagles are non-selective feeders and will eat roadkill, dead animals or live prey. Pesticides can be passed up the food chain if the birds eat poisoned food.
Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.
Bald eagle facts
Habitat: Near rivers, lakes and marshes. Bald eagles typically return to within 100 miles of where they were hatched when they begin to nest.
Diet: Fish, rabbits, waterfowl, turtles, snakes and carrion.
Threats: Habitat loss and degradation, pesticide poisoning, illegal hunting. Bald eagle populations dropped to 417 nesting pairs in the 48 contiguous states by 1963. The pesticide DDT was blamed for much of the decline. They were listed as an endangered species in 1967 and delisted in 2007. They are still protected under the Federal Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act. At the time of delisting, there were 36 nesting pairs in Delaware. Today, there are more than 70.
Size: Females are larger than males weighing up to 14 pounds with an 8-foot wing span. Males weigh about 10 pounds and have a 6-foot wing span. Bald eagles develop a white head and tail between the ages of 4 and 5.
Fun facts: Bald eagles were named the national symbol in 1782. Nesting pairs mate for life. A bald eagle nest can weigh up to 100 pounds, and the birds typically add on to it every year.