An injured bald eagle rescued by Oxford Boy Scout Troop 366 back in April is on the road to recovery and possibly release back into the wild.
‘The bird is just now starting to fly,? said Linda G. Bianco, a state and federally licensed avian rehabilitator who specializes in birds of prey, also known as raptors. ‘He’s doing very well. He’s responding well to the stimuli I’m providing. He’s got a lot of initiative to exercise on his own.?
When the 1?-year-old male bald eagle was found April 27 by scouts hiking through the state-owned Bald Mountain Recreation Area on their way to Camp Agawam in Orion, he had a fractured right wing.
Because the bird was discovered laying beneath some power lines, it was speculated he sustained his injury by flying into them.
‘That would be my guess only because of where the bird was found,? Bianco said.
Bianco was called in to transport the 8-pound eagle to her facility in Rochester Hills, which contains a small clinic where she can provide immediate medical care.
X-rays showed a proximal fracture of the bird’s right humerus.
On April 30, the eagle underwent surgery to insert an 8-10-inch metal pin directly into the fractured bone. The pin was removed June 1.
Both the surgery and recovery is ‘very tricky? for birds, according to Bianco.
‘With birds it’s really, really touch-and-go because you have to keep their wing absolutely still,? she explained. ‘If that bone rotates even a tiny amount during the healing process, it makes the bird non-releasable.?
Right now, things are looking good.
Bianco said the eagle recently started taking short-distance flights of about 20-25 feet while four or five feet off the ground. He’s currently being housed in a flight cage (also called a mew) that’s 50 feet long, 12 feet tall and 16 feet wide.
‘I go out and exercise him everyday ? sometimes twice a day,? said Bianco, who’s been doing wildlife rehabilitation since 1987. She’s specialized in exclusively in raptors ? which include eagles, hawks, owls, falcons and owls ? for the past nine years.
It’s still too early to tell if the juvenile eagle will be releasable back into the wild.
‘I am very hopeful that this bird will be released, but I’m still waiting for the feather growth and signs of any nerve damage,? Bianco said. ‘He lost all but two flight feathers in the damaged wing.?
The flight feathers have grown back about two-thirds of the way.
Eagles have 7,000 feathers which they depend on for flight as well as thermoregulation.
Bianco’s hoping to transport the eagle to another rehabilitator who owns a 100-foot flight cage by Aug. 1 or shortly thereafter.
Once inside this larger mew, the eagle will be able to get more exercise and Bianco will be able to determine it’s future within a week or two.
Bianco’s ‘goal? is to return the eagle to the wild, if possible, by Sept. 1. If the eagle can be released, Bianco said it will most likely be done where he was found ‘because that territory is familiar to him.?
The bird’s health along with the proximity to migration season are big factors in the decision to release.
‘If a bird isn’t physically well enough to be released in time to either migrate or re-acclimate themselves to the changing season, you pretty much have to keep them through the winter and release them in the spring,? Bianco said.
Should any members of the public ever run across what appears to be injured raptor, Bianco advised, ‘Do not touch it. Call a federally licensed rehabilitator. They’re the only ones allowed legally to handle that bird.?
‘Don’t ever remove an animal without talking to a licensed rehabilitator because sometimes the animal does not need to be removed,? she explained. ‘That’s always the last resort.?
Also, never offer any food or water to a raptor as they have ‘very specialized needs? and must be fed a ‘proper diet.?
‘Birds don’t process certain things like bologna or hamburger,? Bianco said.
Those who do encounter an injured raptor can call Bianco for assistance at (248) 953-5690.

The bald eagle returns
n The bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species on June 28, 2007. It was listed as endangered in 1967 and reclassified as threatened in 1995.
n The nation’s symbol has recovered from an all-time low of 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to an estimated high of 9,789 breeding pairs today throughout the lower 48 states.