I am a biologist for the State of Missouri, and last Friday I got a call from one of our agents asking me to help with an eagle rescue. A landowner had called saying that there was a young eagle in his hayfield that appeared to have a broken wing. We went to the farm and eventually found the young bird. It was located in a washed out area sitting on a log. I crawled down into the hole and when the bird tried to get away, it kinda of stumbled and landed on its back, talons up. I put a bed sheet over the bird, and carefully worked it around to where I had its back against my belly and I could hold its legs just above the feet. We got the bird into a pet carrier and took it to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Kansas City. They determined that it had broken the humerous in its wing. They are doing the x rays to day to find out how bad the break is.
This is the first live eagle I have ever gotten to hold. It is an amazing bird. Even though it was dyhydrated and malnourished, it still had alot of fight left in it and it had my utmost respect and concentration. The photos I took were at the wildlife rehab center. When I was holding the bird, I was concentrating on keeping the beak and talons away from my arms and hands, and really was not thinking about pictures. It is a young bald eagle, just out of the nest. Bald eagles do not get the white head and tail until after they reach the age of 5, then they are considered mature. I believe that this bird sctually broke its wing either on its maiden flight from the nest, or it had just completed its first flight and was tyring to land when it crashed. The nest was located about 250 yards from the bird, but we could find not adults in the area.
Neal
