Eagle ascension

COEUR d'ALENE - When Eric Reis came to work at the Fighting Creek Landfill last Tuesday, he didn't expect to save a life.

But that's what he did.

"We get a lot of eagles around here," Reis said. "I saw this one out there on the sand just kind of sitting there, so I tried to walk up to him."

Reis said as he walked up to 3-year-old bald eagle, he noticed that it was acting strangely.

"He was kind of acting like he was drunk," he said. "He tried to fly off and crash-landed. That's when I knew something was wrong."

Reis said the raptor tried to fly off a few more times, but kept crash landing. That's when the unexpected happened.

"Out of the blue, this other eagle swooped in and started to attack him," he said. "The other eagle attacked him three times, and he was hitting him pretty hard."

Reis and others were able to scare the healthy eagle away, but then crows started coming after the injured eagle. Still, Reis said they were able to keep the injured eagle safe until Birds of Prey Northwest showed up to help the bird.

"We are here releasing this eagle today, because Eric did everything right," said Raptor Biologist Jane Fink, who has worked for Birds of Prey for 25 years.

"The first thing you do is cover the bird with a coat or a blanket," Fink said. "Being mindful of the eagle's talons - because that's where the business end of a raptor is - pick it up and put it into a trunk or pet carrier or even a box."

Then, she said, call Birds of Prey at (208) 245-1367, or Idaho Department of Fish and Game at (208) 769-1414.

"Not just anybody can come out and rescue eagles like this," Fink said, adding an eagle rescuer has to be certified to do it legally.

The eagle they released Monday morning at the landfill was apparently poisoned, but Fink was able to diagnose it in time and save the bird.

"It ingested something, but Lord knows what out here in this landfill," she said. "When we get a bird in, we have to try and figure out what is wrong with it."

In this case, Fink said she thought the eagle was dead by the time she got it back to her rehabilitation facility.

"But then I saw its eyelid move, so I started an IV right away," she said, adding they also force fed the raptor fluids and vitamins. "He showed immediate signs of recovery."

In less than a week, Fink said the bird was ready to be released. She said the goal is to minimize the time the raptor is kept in captivity.

"Many of our patients take much longer," she said.

Fink said Birds of Prey, which is funded solely through private donations, is just beginning its spring release season. The nonprofit will be releasing a peregrine falcon and a pygmy owl this spring as well.

"About 50 percent of the birds we take in are released back into the wild," she said, adding this release was special to her. "I have been doing this for 25 years and this will be the first immature bald eagle I have released."

This eagle was 3 years old and just past a critical mortality point. Eagles can live 20 to 25 years in the wild, and up to 50 years in captivity.

She suspects the eagle was eating the carcass of a euthanized animal.

"If you are going to dispose of a euthanized animal, give it a proper burial," she said. "Eagles are opportunists and they will eat it."

She said the primary killers of eagles are lead poisoning and illegal shooting, but as eagle populations increase, wind turbines and car crashes vie for close seconds.

Asked if she named the eagle, Fink said she doesn't ordinarily name the birds she plans to release.

"But if I were to name this one, I would name it Fighting Creek," she said.

Reis said he named it Mickey Rooney, because Mickey Rooney had just passed away.

"I figured the odds of two Mickey Rooneys passing away at the same time was slim," he said, and added it must have worked.