TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A symbol of our freedom needed a little help Sunday night.
A bald eagle was injured after she took a big fall in a Tampa neighborhood, but fortunately, her neighbors came to the rescue.
She’s now in Orlando getting the care she needs, in hopes that she can be released back into the wild.
The eagle fell from a communication tower along Elliott Street in Port Tampa City, where she made her nest. People who witnessed the long fall said she hit the tower and a car on the way down before lying in the road.
“She hit the tower, and her wing was swollen, and so, we took her and had her x-rayed. Remarkably, she has no fractures,” said Nancy Murrah, President of the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay.
“They said it tried to fly a few times, unsuccessfully, and said it just laid on its back for a while. So, kind of a terrible situation,” said Michelle James.
The eagle was taken to the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay by Michelle James and one of her friends, who volunteers for the Center.
“Honestly, the moment the opportunity arose, I was all game. I could not get in the car fast enough,” James said. “She was really quiet, there was a little bit of rustling in the cage.”
James said she had never seen an eagle up close like that before.
“Remotely terrifying, I mean, the people on the page were like: if anyone’s comfortable, just throw a blanket over it and put it in a cage. I’m thinking to myself, there’s no way in heck I would ever do that or have the confidence to do that,” she said. “His claws were as big as my hands, so I mean, it literally covered her torso.”
The eagle is currently undergoing testing at Audubon EagleWatch in Orlando.
“When she gets here, she will be triaged again, and we will do lead testing, we will draw blood for blood work to make sure she doesn’t have an infection or anything like that,” said Cheryl Merz, Interim Program Manager at Audubon EagleWatch.
After all the testing is done and the eagle is cleared, she will head to the ‘Flight Barn.’
“They get to the flight barn, and they need to build up the endurance and stamina again,” Merz said.
She does have a mate waiting for her at the tower, so experts are hoping she will be able to be released into the wild soon.
There is a question that still remains: what happened with her landing?
“Why did she hit the tower? She’s been living there for a couple of years. So, she’s been able to land solidly on the tower,” Murrah said.
Tuesday morning, she will get her blood work done, and the Audubon Center will work to determine the next steps in her recovery.
Experts encourage anyone who sees a downed bird to call for help, because it can be the difference between life and death.
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