BANGOR, Maine — The adult female bald eagle that fell ill in downtown Bangor more than a year ago has had a productive year since her rehabilitation and release into the wild.
Erynn Call, a wildlife biologist who serves as the raptor specialist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the eagle some call “Bangor Mom” found a new mate, and the duo raised a pair of eaglets this summer.
“There was a period when [the eaglets] were learning how to fly, and we were very hopeful that they wouldn’t end up on the ground,” Call said. “Fortunately, they went through the learn-how-to-fly process by going from tree to tree, not tree to ground.”
The female eagle, which had ingested a toxin in May of 2014, became ill and was taken to Avian Haven in Freedom. The same day its mate, also ill, flew into a power line and was electrocuted. After those incidents, biologists determined the duo were in the process of raising two eaglets, which were subsequently rescued from their nest, brought to the same wildlife rehabilitator and reunited with their mother.
The female adult was released in Brewer in June of 2014 and promptly found her new mate — a younger male. The pair took up housekeeping in her former nest and spent the summer of 2015 raising two eaglets of their own.
“We were just thrilled to have that success so soon after her recovery, and to have two eaglets survive and fledge and leave the nest is really wonderful,” Call said. “With raptors, that doesn’t always happen.”
Call said young eagles can be clumsy and often topple out of their nests. If that happens in an area where pets, people or vehicles are present, the eaglet is less likely to survive. She and fellow biologist Brad Allen have some history at the Bangor nest: In 2013, another of Bangor Mom’s offspring had to be rescued after it fell from the nest while trying to learn to fly.
Sharon Fiedler, a wildlife photographer who has been keeping tabs on Bangor Mom for years, said she became able to identify the eagle after receiving advice from biologist Charlie Todd of the DIF&W.
“Charlie got me into photographing eagles’ legs,” Fiedler said, explaining that the Bangor female has a numbered leg band that allows biologists to identify her.
The eagle’s offspring from last year also have leg bands, which has allowed biologists to receive updates when those birds are spotted.
Allen said those birds were released near the Kennebec River in September 2014, and one of them was found just weeks later in Montreal.
“On the ground in Montreal, it needed help, and a caregiver there helped it a little bit and then let it go,” Allen said. “It was just down on its luck. It was young and foolish and didn’t have the benefit of growing up with mom and dad. He probably made some mistakes and got weak.”
Call said that after working with scientists at the University of Maine, the DIF&W has also been able to solve the mystery surrounding the illness of Bangor Mom and her previous mate.
“We found that [the male had ingested] pentobarbital,” Call said. “That’s the chemical that’s used to euthanize animals.”
Call said determining the source of that chemical, however, has proved impossible.
The eagles may have eaten a carcass of a euthanized house pet or could have happened upon a farm animal that had been euthanized by its owner. Call explained that house pets destroyed by veterinarians or animal welfare clinics are disposed of in landfills, while farm animals often are buried at farms.
In both cases, state agencies require certain procedures to follow. Figuring out the source of one animal that was not disposed of properly — or which was subsequently dug up by another forager — isn’t possible.
“It’s just amazing that the eaglets weren’t exposed to [the chemical],” Call said. “It must have been such a huge dose that [the adults] just didn’t make it back to the nest to deliver the food.”
