News: Eagles

[GCG]

This is so very sad. Thanks for sharing, TPC! I wonder how many more years he would have survived. Why oh why didn't the driver stop and then report it. Clearly, it was a tragic accident, not intentional. He wouldn't have been charged. However. hit and run, another story. Would have major damage and trace evidence to his/her vehicle.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Record-setting bald eagle, 38, killed in N.Y.
Winnipeg Free Press / 13 June 2015

MELVILLE, N.Y. -- A banded, bald eagle found dead Tuesday on an upstate New York roadway turned out to be 38 years old, the oldest one recovered so far in a U.S. effort to bring the species back from the brink of extinction, New York state and federal environmental agencies said.


Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/record-setting-bald-eagle-38-killed-in-ny-307247401.html

[GCG]

Thanks for sharing this, MayShowers! 

[MayShowers]

The eagle has landed: Fisherman saves drowning baby eagle
CTV News


link to video:  http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.2019588

Amazing!

I found this update on the O.W.L Facebook page:

"O.W.L. Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society
November 25
A little update on the Bald eagle from Nanoose Bay. She is doing well off of the medication, and was moved to a slightly larger cage with two eagle cage mates to help show her some skills while continuing to recover. Thanks again to Huff Animal Hospital for their assistance, and Don for the rescue."

[Doreen]

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2012/entries/159313/view/

[susha]

Oh - I hope he/she makes it!  Thanks gcg!

[GCG]

The eagle has landed: Fisherman saves drowning baby eagle
CTV News


link to video:  http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.2019588

Amazing!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Interior Department Releases Revised Rule to Ensure Long-term Monitoring and Protection of Eagles While Facilitating Renewable Energy Development
press release / USFWS / 6 Dec 2013
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior today announced changes to regulations enabling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to better monitor and address the long-term impacts of renewable energy projects and other activities on federally-protected eagles. In addition to these immediate changes, the Service will continue its comprehensive review of all eagle permitting regulations to determine if other modifications are necessary to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
 
“Renewable energy development is vitally important to our nation’s future, but it has to be done in the right way,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “The changes in this permitting program will help the renewable energy industry and others develop projects that can operate in the longer term, while ensuring bald and golden eagles continue to thrive for future generations.”
 
In 2009, the Service began a permitting program under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act applicable to developers of renewable energy projects and other activities that may “take” (injure, kill or otherwise disturb) bald and golden eagles. The Eagle Act allows the Service to authorize the programmatic take of eagles, which is take associated with, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity and does not have a long-term impact on the population.
 
These permits have been for a maximum of five years – a period that does not reflect the actual operating parameters of most renewable energy projects or other similar long term project operations. The revised rule, a result of extensive stakeholder engagement and public comment, extends the maximum permit tenure to 30 years, subject to a recurring five-year review process throughout the permit life. 

Read the full release here:
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ID=C89793DD-9A58-2AC0-D6AB01D20FA91C99


Interior Dept. Rule Greenlights Eagle Slaughter at Wind Farms, Says Audubon CEO
press release / Audubon / 5 Dec 2013

New Rule Will Authorize 30-Year Permits for Killing America's National Bird

In a stunningly bad move for eagles, the U.S. Department of the Interior has finalized a new rule that would make it possible to grant wind energy companies 30-year permits to kill Bald and Golden eagles. Audubon's CEO released the following statement:

“Instead of balancing the need for conservation and renewable energy, Interior wrote the wind industry a blank check,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold. “It’s outrageous that the government is sanctioning the killing of America’s symbol, the Bald Eagle. Audubon will continue to look for reasonable, thoughtful partners to wean America off fossil fuels because that should be everyone’s highest priority. We have no choice but to challenge this decision, and all options are on the table.”

source:
http://www.audubon.org/newsroom/press-releases/2013/interior-dept-rule-greenlights-eagle-slaughter-wind-farms-says-audubon-

[The Peregrine Chick]

Dead Utah eagles killed by West Nile virus

State wildlife officials announced Tuesday that the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., confirmed West Nile virus is the cause of the eagle deaths. Five more eagles are currently being treated in wildlife rehabilitation centers.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57336899-78/virus-nile-west-wildlife.html.csp

There is some interesting chatter going on about the diagnosis of WNV for the eagle deaths.  People who know way more about avian diseases say that they are surprised at the WNV diagnosis when it would seem more likely to be botulism or avian cholera.  USFWS is saying that the eagles died/became ill as a result of eating dead/dying eared grebes that died from WNV.  Others are saying that the death of 20,000 (yes that is the right number of zeroes) eared grebes since November is too many for WNV at this time of the year even if there was a huge number of WNV infected mosquitoes (they are what would have infected the grebes) at a time of the year when mosquitoes are not in the ascendant.  Hence the question that has arisen, do the eagles have WNV in their system but did they die of something else such as avian botulism or avian cholera both of which are known to kill huge numbers of birds in localized areas.  (Whitewater Lake in Manitoba is known to have huge avian botulism problems when water levels are low and summer temps are higher).

Don't know if the diagnosis will change, but it's interesting to see that there still is a question in these eagles deaths ...
The other thing that is interesting is that 27 eagles make every newspaper in the USA, 20,000 dead eared grebes didn't ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

2 Bald Eagles Found Shot To Death In Montgomery County (MD, USA)
CBS Baltimore

BROOKVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — It’s the proud national bird symbol of the United States, yet someone in Maryland is shooting them.

Jessica Kartalija explains not only is killing the bald eagle disturbing, it’s illegal.  The birds are federally protected, but that didn’t stop two people from shooting at them.

Bald eagles can be found year-round throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Now, after finding two with gunshot wounds, Natural Resources Police are searching for whoever pulled the trigger.

“A person out on Christmas Day heard a shot and saw an eagle laying dead in the field,” said Candy Thomson, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.

X-rays determined the eagle was shot with a rifle near Brookeville. Because the bird wasn’t mature, there’s a chance the shooter mistook it for a vulture or osprey. However, another was found dead three days later in Darnestown.

“The second one was a mature bird, so it had the full plumage that people know as the American symbol,” Thomson said.

That means, if convicted, the shooter could be required to pay a $5,000 fine and spend a year behind bars.  The Chesapeake region is an important stop for bald eagles migrating to other parts of the country.  With some 5,000 pairs of bald eagle in the state, they aren’t considered threatened or endangered in Maryland. Still, shooting them is illegal.

“The birds are still protected under the American Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act,” said Thomson.

Investigators don’t believe the two incidents are related. They took place on opposite sides of Montgomery County.  Police tell WJZ they have received several tips and are now investigating several leads.  Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police ask anyone with information to contact the 24-hour “Catch a Poacher” hotline at 1-800-635-6124.

There is a video of a bald eagle:  http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/01/02/2-bald-eagles-found-shot-to-death-in-montgomery-county/

[Elaine L]

I am so sorry to read all the sad news about eagles.  I can't believe that people still use poison - it is like something out of the dark ages.  

I moved here to Parksville on Vancouver Island from Edmonton, Alberta, six months ago, and was delighted to observe six bald eagles while walking along the ocean path at Rathtrevor Beach.  They were just riding the wind, much like falcons do.  I could not see where the nest was, and I could not tell a parent from chicks, or whether they were even all related.  I hate to be so uninformed about eagles, but now is as good a time as any to learn.  I left our falcon watch behind in Edmonton, so I hope to find that there is some kind of eagle watch here, and the local nature group I have joined should be able to tell me more.  

Perhaps others on this Forum have already reported on the eagles in Parksville, and I have just not seen it.

[The Peregrine Chick]

State wildlife officials announced Tuesday that the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., confirmed West Nile virus is the cause of the eagle deaths. Five more eagles are currently being treated in wildlife rehabilitation centers.

Sad to lose so many but better to lose to a "natural" cause than say poisoning or other human impact ... West Nile may not have been endemic to North America until recently (1990s) but it is serious given the number of possible end results = WNV fever, meningitis, encephalitis, meningo-encephalitis, and it may or may not be present in poliomyelytis-like syndrome ...

For those wanting more information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Nile_virus

Thanks for keeping an eye on this story RCF

[RCF]

Dead Utah eagles killed by West Nile virus

State wildlife officials announced Tuesday that the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., confirmed West Nile virus is the cause of the eagle deaths. Five more eagles are currently being treated in wildlife rehabilitation centers.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57336899-78/virus-nile-west-wildlife.html.csp

[birdcamfan]

I read about this in the paper today. So sad to hear.

[Jazzerkins]

How sad.    I hope the authorities can determine what is killing these majestic birds.