A bald eagle has died days after it was rescued from a floating patch of ice in Waukegan Harbor.
The eagle was taken to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn after it was rescued by volunteers with the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.
In a Facebook post shared Thursday, the wildlife center announced that despite hopes for a recovery, the bird died from complications of the injuries it had suffered.
“Despite promising signs of recovery the first 48 hours, the bird took a very rapid turn for the worst,” the wildlife center said.
“Unfortunately, we do see this progression in wildlife cases often — an initial improvement likely related to being warmed up and rehydrated but then a rapid decline as the underlying cause of illness was just too much for the body to overcome.”
The Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, which operates a 24-hour hotline for bird rescue reports, had gotten a call about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. A group of birdwatchers at the harbor said the bald eagle was stuck on ice, looked lethargic and could not stand up straight.
Once they scooped it up, rescuers took the eagle to the wildlife center, where it underwent blood tests and treatment.
“On physical exam, the bird was quite thin, wet and disheveled,” the wildlife center said in a social media post.
The tests revealed moderate anemia with a delayed clotting time, symptoms consistent with having ingested rodent poisoning, most likely from prey.
The eagle was about 3 years old. The wildlife center could not determine whether it was male or female due to it being significantly underweight. Bald eagles develop a full white head at around 5 years old.
