This eagle, wounded by a shotgun blast, has begun to recover and recently went for a flight in an enclosed area at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast.
A bald eagle found pummeled with pellets near Rainier late last month has emerged from treatment and started to flex its wings at a wildlife center near Astoria. The adult bald eagle found injured along the Columbia River in the Dibblee Point Beach area on April 30 by two horseback riders has three dozen pellets throughout her body, including in her head and wings.
Other birds of prey that are illegally shot up are often not so lucky.
Every year, the Audubon Society of Portland treats a couple of dozen protected birds for gunshot wounds, including everything from sandhill cranes and blue herons to peregrine falcons to bald eagles.
Some make it, but others do not, and they're just the tip of the iceberg, said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the society.
"The vast of majority of birds that are shot probably don't survive," Sallinger said. "They die and they're scavenged on the ground and no one ever finds them. The fact that we get in as many birds that are shot as we do is indicative of a much larger problem."
It is illegal to harm or kill migratory birds, including just about all native species in Oregon, under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. It excludes birds that fall under hunting regulations. Bald eagles, which were taken off the Endangered Species List in 2007, have federal protection of their own.
But that does not deter some people from targeting them.
She spent nearly a week in the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria and then was released into a flight cage late last week wearing a wing wrap.
She picked it off on Sunday and took flight in the cage on Monday.
"They're tough birds," said Sharnelle Fee, director of the wildlife center. "These guys live a hard life and they're hard on each other. It takes a lot to bring them down."
The eagle was hit with tiny lead pellets which can leach into their bodies and kill them.
So far, the eagle's lead levels are normal, Fee said. But the bird has a cataract in her left eye unrelated to the gunshot wounds, and that could prevent her release if it's not fixed with surgery.
"The first thing is to make sure she's going to live and that she can fly (normally) again," Fee said.
In the meantime, the Fish and Wildlife division of Oregon State Police is offering $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Fee believes it was not a hunting accident.
"We're not in hunting season," Fee said. "I don't think people target practice with shotgun shells. If they are, they should be pointing at a target and not at a bird. It was probably someone showing off or they were out getting their kicks."
Getting caught and convicted could bring a maximum fine of $100,000 and a year in prison under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which covers other raptors, carries a maximum of six months behind bars and a $5,000 fine.
Authorities say it's difficult to profile the people who knowingly harm protected birds.
"It ranges from joyriding kids to people who feel the birds are interfering with their pets or livestock to people who kill them to sell their feathers," said Joan Jewett, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office covering Oregon. "There's a big market for raptor feathers."
The talons and bald eagle heads are also prized on the black market.
Sallinger wants to raise the penalty for killing or harming the protected birds -- and step up enforcement.
"We've seen a lot of creatures shot over the years and oftentimes those crimes go unprosecuted," Sallinger said, "and when they are prosecuted, they often get off with minimal penalties."
In 2009, the Oregon Legislature gave the state authority to collect $5,000 in damages from anyone who kills or harms a threatened or endangered raptor. And in the U.S. Congress, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., backed legislation that was passed by the House, adding a felony punishment for anyone who intentionally harms a protected bird.
A companion bill, supported by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley D-Ore., awaits a vote in the Senate.
But even stepped up penalties won't necessarily translate into stepped up prosecutions.
"These things usually happen out of sight," Jewett said. "By the time they come to our attention, unless you have a witness who comes forward, it's pretty hard to identify the shooter."
To report an incident, call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office in Wilsonville at 503-682-6131. Anyone with information about the recovering bald eagle should call Oregon State Police Trooper Tim Schwartz at 503-397-0325, ext. 42.
This X-ray shows at least seven of the shotgun pellets that struck the bird.
