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Sunday, January 4, 2009

More Eagle News

I wanted to share some interesting news that recently took place in my city (Suffolk, VA). According to a local newspaper, a juvenile bald eagle got food poisoning from the city landfill. The eagle became so sick that it could not fly, stand or even lift his head. According to the report, the young eagle made a common mistake, and went to find food at the landfill as opposed to hunting for live food.

I didn't realize that this was such a common problem with eagles - apparently it is according to the article. The eagle was taken to our state wildlife center for rehab. I think it's great that someone picked up on what was happening and was able to ID the eagle at the landfill. Juvenile bald eagles are often miss identified because they haven't formed their white head and tail feathers. The story does have an happy ending - here is the article: http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2008/dec/26/eagle-takes-flight/

3 comments:

Chandramouli S said...

Thank god it found a safe place! Poor ones don't find forests a lot and are not aware that the landfills aren't safe in this modern world.

Kim said...

I am glad there was a happy ending to this. I had no idea they would eat from landfills when the pickings in the wild becamse rare.

What a beautiful bird.

Dawn Fine said...

Great ending to a sad story.
I have just been catching up with all the blogs that I read...liked your eagle chasing adventure...too bad you didnt get a photo..but the red-shouldered is not too shabby..
Like your new composting setup...I agree we throw much to much away..
I wonder what I can do with my kitchen scraps...I live fulltime in a motorhome..dont know if the campgrounds would aprreciate my food litter...
must be something i can do..i will research it now as you got me thinking...
Hope you are still enjoying your birdcam and new camera.