An injured female bald eagle found suffering from lead poisoning last week in a roadside ditch east of Crawford is described as in stable condition and recovering at a raptor recovery center in southeast Nebraska.

Clayton Serres of Crawford found the female eagle along Bethel Loop Road on Sunday the 2nd and immediately drove to the Dawes County Sheriff’s substation in Crawford to report it.

Deputy Scott Swickart went out and found the eagle, which he says didn’t try to fly away, but simply remained perched and still among the tall weeds.

Deputy Swickart contacted dispatchers, who called Nebraska Game and Parks. Swickart kept the eagle company while waiting for Conservation Officer Dan Kling to arrive to take charge.

Kling says it appeared the bird had a broken or injured wing, so he prepared to take it to a rehabilitation center. He quickly named her Fluffy after she showed her 1-1/2″ talons to them several times as they “coaxed” her into a pet carrier.

Kling drove Fluffy to Dannebrog, where he was met by staffers from the non-profit Raptor Recovery Nebraska…the
state’s only permitted raptor recovery rehab center…who took her on to their facility near Lincoln in Elmwood. Kling says it was Raptor Recovery that determined Fluffy was suffering from lead poisoning.

Kling says bald eagles are very susceptible to lead poisoning in the wild, with the lead generally entering their blood stream because of their diet.

He says Fluffy may have eaten a duck or other bird that had been hit by a hunter using lead shot or that had swallowed a lead sinker. He thinks the eagle might even had swallowed a spent lead bullet from the recent firearm deer season.

Although this isn’t the first time in his Game and Parks career that Kling has found an ailing eagle, it looks to be the most rewarding since it appears Fluffy will survive while none of the others did.