close

Eaglets removed from nest, recovering

By CHUCK BALLARO 3 min read
article image -

news@breezenewspapers.com

After a week of bonding and fighting fiercely over food, the two eaglets of Harriet and M15, Southwest Florida’s favorite bald eagles, were removed from their nest on Friday after it was discovered they may have contracted an illness.

The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife quickly removed the eaglets, dubbed E17 and E18, from their nest and brought them to their facility in Sanibel, where the chicks were observed to be in good condition through the weekend.

The removal came after the eaglets were observed on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam with eye issues on Thursday. Their eyes were closed and the area around the eye appeared to be crusty and swollen and irritated.

When their conditions didn’t improve and it was determined they could, possibly, have contracted Avian Pox or some other infection, the Pritchetts, on whose property the nest is located, called CROW, which determined the eaglets needed care.

“We started to see deterioration in their eyes through the cameras and they couldn’t open their eyes, which is one of the signs of Avian Pox,” said Virginia Pritchett McSpadden, a founder of the eagle cam.

The Pritchetts called CROW, which worked with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Commission, which determined the eaglets needed care. The chicks were removed from the nest Friday afternoon with the use of a bucket truck.

The eaglets were reported by CROW to be in good condition and well-fed, but didn’t know the cause of their eye condition. Swabs were taken for testing, the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam stated on its website.

The eaglets received eye drops and antibiotics before being taken to the CROW rehab team for feedings. CROW also reported the infection was still present in the eaglets and they were still receiving medication as of press time Monday.

There was no timeline on when the eaglets would return to the nest.

When they do, the next question becomes will the eagles accept their chicks’ return and continue care.

According to the SWFL Eagle Cam, that is an unknown.

It depends on how long the eaglets are away from the nest, which is why CROW wants to get them back home quickly.

“CROW is working as fast as they can, but want to make sure the eaglets are 100 percent healthy before the re-nest them,” McSpadden said. “Then we need to see if the adult eagles will reclaim them. In every situation we’ve seen locally, they have, but there are cases when the adults do not.”

A previous eaglet of the pair, E8, was missing from the nest for a while. It was found, re-nested and accepted back.

Both eaglets of the new brood hatched Saturday, Jan. 23, only two hours apart after each had a very quick hatching from “pip” to its emergence from the egg shell.

CROW has been providing updates on E17 and E18 on its Facebook page.

The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam may be view live at dickpritchettrealestate.com/eaglecam360.html