Bald Eagles alive and ????

   

Bald Eagles are defiantly on the road to recovery, or are they?!?  Bald Eagles are being seen in places where they have not been seen in several decades! DNR and many wildlife rehabilitators are receiving calls from the public about these large birds which the caller knows or believes to be an eagle. Bald Eagles have been seen in downtown Indianapolis and on the Indy North side. More than 100 active Bald Eagle nests are believed to exist in Indiana and at least 3 are known to exist in Marion County!

  In winter Bald and Golden Eagles migrate south in search open waters. Eagles can be found near power plants where warm water discharge from the power plant keeps the river, near the power plant, free of ice. In winter, its common place to see a Bald Eagle standing on the edge of the ice watching the open water or eating a recently caught fish.

Fish is a large part of an eagles diet but not the only source of meat for eagles. 

Bald Eagles will eat almost anything they can catch, including ducks, rodents, snakes, and carrion. Carrion, the carcass of a dead animal, can be a real problem for Bald Eagles and other carrion eating animals. An eagle finding a dead deer, duck or other dead wildlife may be finding a death trap! Lead from bullets and shotgun slugs found in dead or sick animals is believed to be a large part of the problem. In addition, a large number of Bald Eagles brought to wildlife rehabilitators are the victims of gunshot wounds.   Nearly 50% of the Bald Eagles treated in some wildlife rehabilitation centers have been found to have high levels of toxic lead in their body.

                            http://www.iowadnr.gov/files/lead/eagles_lead.pdf

  Lead isn’t the only problem for the eagles! The chemicals used in illegal drug production are also becoming a problem for wildlife!!! Recently a 23 year old bald eagle found near Brown County Indiana was brought into a local wildlife rehabilitator. The eagle was in bad shape and later died. A necropsy was performed on the bald eagle. The people performing the necropsy noticed a strong odor of toluene coming form inside the eagle body.  It was later learned the eagle had been found not far from where an illegal drug setup was located.

 Add to all of this, the recent delisting of the Bald Eagle…… Yes I know delisting is a good thing or is it?!? A recent document outlines the “Taking” of Bald Eagles. Yes you can get a permit to kill(take) a Bald Eagle!!!!

            http://www.fws.gov/midwest/MidwestBird/eaglepermits/index.html