After 7-month recovery from West Nile virus, golden eagle released back into wild
Nearly eight months ago, a golden eagle fell from its perch atop a truck stop in Westley.
She no longer could fly, or eat on her own, so she was severally underweight. The eagle was ill with West Nile virus.
“Day 1, we weren’t sure she’d make it through the night, and now we are able to see her released. It’s a good feeling,” Veronica Sandow, manager at the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center in Hughson, said Friday after releasing the eagle.
The eagle, estimated to be about 4 years old, was released at a ranch near Patterson. She circled the field several times as everyone there took photos, then flew away over an orchard.
The eagle was brought to the wildlife care center on Sept. 11 by an employee of Joe’s Travel Plaza who saw the raptor fall from the two-story building.
Female golden eagles usually weigh around 11 pounds, sometimes more, but she was only eight pounds.
For several weeks, the eagle was given supplemental fluids and Sandow had to hand-feed her, massaging mice down her throat.
She was able to eat on her own after about a month, but it wasn’t until November that her flying skills were tested.
Sandow first waited for the eagle to molt a feather, to ensure the new one grew in properly, then moved her to a large aviary.
At first, “she just walked around the cage a bit. She appeared to be pretty self-conscious and would not fly when anyone was around,” Sandow said. “We had to hide. ... We would hear her fly and see shadows in the cage. We were working with Fish and Wildlife to get game cameras in there, but then in December, we saw her fly the length of the aviary.”
Since then, the eagle continued to condition her flight muscles and put on weight. She now weighs nearly 12 pounds.
Sandow, who has worked at the center since 2009, has seen many birds released, but this was her first eagle.
“Seeing her through a seven-month period with West Nile virus, when she couldn’t even stand at first, this is really exciting,” she said. “This is why we do it, to see these birds back out in the wild.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 12:39 PM with the headline "After 7-month recovery from West Nile virus, golden eagle released back into wild."
