Eagles!

We received calls about two grounded eagles (4 months and 50 miles apart). Both suffered injuries that prevented them from flying. Any fledged raptor that is approachable on the ground, or that attempts to move away without flying, probably needs help, as was the case with each of these birds. They are wrapped in a towel for transport to rehab so that they don’t damage wing feathers or exacerbate any injuries.

Unlike most North American raptors, both of our eagle species take more than a year to mature - usually 4-5 years to molt through annual sub-adult plumages until they obtain their full adult feather-glory. For the Bald Eagle, that means the iconic white head and tail, bright yellow irises, and a chocolate-brown body. The adult Golden Eagle will display a brown body and wings, with golden body feathers on the nape, and smudgy, indistinct white banding on a brown tail.

BALD EAGLE

Bald Eagles are sea eagles, raptors with large heads, and enormous, long bills. This 2nd - 3rd year bird had a broken shoulder bone and severe bruising on its back. After several weeks of rehabilitation at Lindsay Wildlife Hospital, it was released at the Oakland park where we rescued it.

GOLDEN EAGLE

Golden Eagles belong to the family of “booted eagles,” so called because they have feathering extending down their legs. Their bills are smaller in proportion to their bodies and more hawk-like in shape than Bald Eagles’ bills, but still VERY formidable. This sub-adult bird was captured in a heavily-wooded residential area of Portola Valley, unable to fly with soft tissue injuries to its left shoulder and right wing. As of this writing, it is undergoing rehabilitation with the Silicon Valley Wildlife Center, hopefully to be released soon.