Photo courtesy of Tracy Belle – Wildthunder

A pair of sick eagles that were rescued on Christmas Day are continuing to show improvement. Rehabilitator Tracy Belle with Wildthunder in Independence tells KCII News that the two females are doing much better. The birds had been found in a field near Crawfordsville next to the body of a deceased eagle and two opossums. The eagles were lethargic and taken to Independence for rehabilitation. Testing is being done to see what caused the illness, but poisoning is believed to be the cause.

Jean Fitzgerald with Southeast Iowa Wildlife Rescue Alliance says if you see sick or injured wildlife you should have it assessed, “This time of year in particular there are a lot of the raptors and owls, the youngsters in particular tend to be not so great at hunting yet and they might be just plain hungry. If you see them in one of your buildings, they go to a pole barn or something, and you see an owl sitting there, don’t wait a week and say, ‘Oh, he’s still sitting there!’ And then call. Because he’s starving, that’s why he’s there. Because he’s in trouble. Have somebody come and assess it. I know last year we had two or three times where people would do that: say, ‘Oh no, now I’ve been seeing it for so long, I think there might be something wrong.’ And by the time we get there, sometimes we don’t hardly get out of the driveway before they drop over dead.” Contact law enforcement or conservation officers to check on the animal.

The eagles were transferred to Iowa State University and are now with SOAR, Saving Our Avian Resources, a non-profit based in Manning that helps birds recover with the goal of being released back into the wild.