With bad rainstorms and weather comes debilitated birds…

On Monday, the Bird Center received a phone call about an injured juvenile eagle, which is not too common around Ann Arbor! The caller sent us a video and we confirmed it was in fact an eagle. The rescuer, Jason, found this bird and was unsure what to do, but this bird was in the water, so he rescued the eagle and waited for help. Since the Bird Center was just about 20 minutes away and most facilities are closed after 4 PM, our manager Andrea and intern Jenna went out to check on the situation and triage the bird.

The Bird Center doesn’t usually do many rescues during our busy season, but there were no other options. It was indeed an injured juvenile eagle, but we were unsure of its exact age. No wing breaks were found, but there was a bug infestation and the eagle had a pale tongue. Andrea and Jenna were concerned about lead or rodenticide poisoning (unfortunately these are two common ailments seen in eagles). Jason was kind enough to transport the bird to Morrison Animal Hospital in Garden City, where Dr. Kevin Smyth cares for raptors.

Jason has updated our manager with some information from Morrison Animal Hospital:

“This large eagle is actually a first-year fledgling, and is a female! She is very emaciated and may have either fallen out of the nest or been pushed out and too weak to recover. Dr. Smyth is slowly getting her back on track with eating and regaining strength.”

We are hoping for a release in the future! Her life was saved thanks to Jason’s efforts.

For more information about Dr. Smyth, visit the Morrison Animal Hospital’s website.