Star, a juvenile bald eagle that fell from its nest near Grandview Heights in early August, took to the skies again Monday afternoon after a two-week recovery.
Officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Bird Sanctuary near Mansfield released Star at the Scioto Audubon Metro Park. The young eagle was born earlier this year to a mating pair of bald eagles, Apollo and Athena, that nest near Grandview Heights along the Scioto River.
The moment Star's cage opened at Scioto Audubon Metro Park, she stretched her wide wings and took off into the cloudy sky. Star spent about 20 minutes circling upwards in the sky before heading north back towards her nest.
ODNR Wildlife Management Supervisor Gary Comer said the local birders who track this nest probably saved her life by notifying his agency when the eagles first exhibited symptoms of an illness.
"Star cheated mother nature, so to speak, because without this dedicated group of followers, no one would have seen it... So if this would have been a nest site that wasn't being observed so closely, the story wouldn't have ended up happy," Comer said.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says this is one of seven documented nests in Franklin County. Hundreds of others are scattered around the state. Eagle populations have rebounded in the United States since a low point in the 1960s.
As Star was released, roughly 100 people watched and took photos of the bird.
Comer said he suspects Star likely got sick after her parents scavenged a dead bird that was infected with avian botulism. The paralytic disease can lead to drowning before progressing to more severe stages, and ultimately death.
The birders notified his agency in early August that Athena had symptoms and that Star was acting oddly. Star then fell from her nest 60 to 80 feet to the ground and had to be rescued by the ODNR.
"Star wasn't in very good shape, very shallow breathing. A couple of times I didn't think she was breathing at all," Comer said.
Comer said with the help of one of our staff members that has a lot of experience in wildlife rehab, they gave Star some saline fluids to help try to stabilize the bird and started medical treatment.
"We took her to the Ohio Bird Sanctuary up in Richland County, and from there it just snowballed into getting stronger and recovering every day," Comer said.
Comer said the sanctuary gave Star intravenous fluids, which helped tremendously, and then gave supportive care for a few days. He said Star ended up in a small enclosure, then went straight out to a big flight cage to practice flying again.
Comer said Star's two parents have also shown signs of recovery. He said Athena and Apollo likely didn't ingest as much of the infected bird compared to Star.
Comer said they released Star roughly two miles south of the nest because Star is at the age where her parents are starting to push her out of the nest.
"We didn't want it to have them released right together on top of each other because there could be territorial disputes. They won't recognize her necessarily as their fledge but as another eagle," Comer said.
Comer said Star will likely be a nomad for five to seven years until she is breeding age.
