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Infection from injuries killed this bald eagle found near Accokeek Creek. |
An infection caused by puncture wounds proved too much for a bald eagle rescued on Accokeek Creek last week in Stafford County.
The bird died Friday, according to Kent Knowles, chief rehabilitator with the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia.
"X-rays showed gangrene in the leg," which made the eagle's chances of surviving--even a few days--slim, he said yesterday.
Knowles and a colleague captured the downed bird last Monday in a yard overlooking the creek near the Potomac River. It had spent a night perched on a board in a boathouse, then hopped up the bank into a yard.
The eagle was so weak when it was captured that it could barely flap its wings.
A quick examination at the scene found open wounds on one leg and thigh.
Following emergency treatment at the conservancy in Falls Church, Knowles concluded that the 5-year-old male probably had been attacked by another eagle, mostly likely in a fight over food.
That was bad news because wounds from eagles' sharp talons are prone to infection.
Jeff Cooper, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and coordinator of the state's eagle program, had the dead eagle sent to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for analysis.
"We just wanted to rule out anything else that may have contributed to the animal's demise," Cooper said.
There was no evidence that the eagle found here had been shot, ingested lead or some other toxic material, or had any broken limbs.
The lab results should be available in about 10 days.
When that's done, the carcass will be sent to the National Eagle Repository in Denver, Colo., where body parts and feathers are recycled for use by American Indians. Eagle feathers are used for religious and cultural purposes by many tribes.
The Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 prohibits the possession or sale of bald eagles, golden eagles or eagle parts without a permit.
"I'm very sad that he died," said Accokeek Creek resident Patricia Kurpiel, who reported the injured eagle to the raptor conservancy.
She said it's a good bet the eagle lived on or near Crow's Nest, the peninsula between Accokeek and Potomac creeks, which county and state officials and local environmentalists are trying to preserve. Kurpiel is a member of Save Crow's Nest.
Though the eagle couldn't be saved, "Maybe we can save Crow's Nest for his progeny," she said.
The eagle was the sixth rescued by the raptor conservancy this year.
"Happily, we haven't had any more calls," Knowles said, adding that no matter how the latest eagle died, it can serve to focus attention on larger problems affecting the majestic birds of prey: loss of habitat and poisoning.
"Eagles exist on the waterfront and so do humans," he said. Tidal rivers such as the Rappahannock and the Potomac are under intense development pressure, and also happen to be prime eagle habitat in Virginia.
"Lead and chemicals also take their toll," Knowles said. "All an eagle has to do is ingest one lead shot and the bird's dead."
To reach RUSTY DENNEN: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com
