As the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, two bald eagle chicks found themselves at the center of an extraordinary rescue mission.
One was only days old. The other was still trying to hatch from its egg when an emergency nest removal near active power lines suddenly brought both birds into human care.
After weeks of intensive treatment at Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the eaglets have been successfully placed into a wild foster nest, where they are being raised alongside a third eaglet by adult bald eagles.
“It really took a village,” says Marcie Logsdon (’08 Vet. Sci., ’12 DVM), an avian specialist and certified wildlife rehabilitator with WSU’s Exotics and Wildlife Service. “We had experts from across the country helping us figure out how to give these birds the best possible chance to grow up as wild bald eagles.”
The chicks came to WSU after their parents built a nest on a power structure near Bonneville, Washington, where branches were beginning to contact electrical lines, creating the risk of fire and power outages. After consulting with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and obtaining permits, crews removed the nest and transferred the birds to WSU for care.
One eaglet required especially intensive treatment. Because the bird was in the middle of hatching when the nest was removed, it became stuck inside the egg and had to be carefully assisted out by Logsdon. The chick also had an exposed yolk sac, creating a potential route for infection.
“Things were definitely touch and go there for a bit, but they recovered quickly and were soon eating 20 to 40 percent of their body weight every day,” Logsdon says. “They were growing like weeds.”
The birds are the youngest bald eagles ever treated by WSU’s wildlife team. To prevent them from imprinting on people, staff wore face coverings during feedings, used eagle-themed puppets, played recordings from bald eagle nest cameras, and avoided talking around the chicks.
Logsdon says bald eagles are one of her favorite patients. Their story, she says, is one of the great conservation successes in American history.
