BELFAST, Maine — An injured American bald eagle that was spotted near the Belfast Rail Trail Friday morning was captured by a game warden later that day but did not survive.
The eagle appeared to have been wounded while fighting with another bird, likely an eagle, and was not the victim of foul play at the hands of a person, Warden Chris Dyer said. As the bald eagle population grows in Maine, such injuries likely will become more common, he said.
“We have more eagles than we have ever had, and they’re going to be competing,” he said.
The injured bird was reported to Avian Haven, a bird rehabilitation center in Freedom, after people saw it acting unusual near City Point in Belfast. But when volunteers from Avian Haven tried to catch the bird, it flew away.
“It had some energy left at that point,” Dyer said.
Another person on the Belfast Rail Trail saw the bird later that day, and this time, when Dyer went to capture it, he was able to get quite close to where it was sitting on a rock next to the river.
“I was able to walk right up behind it, just going easily and quietly,” he said.
Up close, it was clear that the bird had some severe injuries and had suffered them some time ago. It was missing an eye, and there were maggots in the eye socket. The warden stayed in the bird’s blind spot in order to drop a net over it and capture it.
“It was very lethargic and out of energy when I caught it. It was missing an eye, and a big chunk of the top of its beak was missing,” Dyer said.
Avian Haven was closed for the night, and the warden kept the eagle in a kennel overnight in a cool, dark place in his home. On Saturday morning, when he went to check on it, the bird had died.
Dyer said that if people see injured eagles or other animals, they should be careful.
“This is the time of year when wildlife and birds are out and about,” he said. “There’s a time for people to intervene with them, and it’s not always right away. The department’s mantra is, ‘If you love it, leave it there.’”
People concerned about the eagle did the right thing when they called Avian Haven, he said.
“On face value, eagles don’t look like they could be dangerous. They are,” he said. “We have specialized gloves we wear because they can sink their talons through your glove.”
Dyer said he understands that people want to help when they see an animal that is suffering, but sometimes not much can be done.
“There comes a point in time when an animal’s not saveable. The reality is, that’s nature,” he said.
