Grounded eagle cleared for takeoff
Three months after she was apparently struck by an airplane at Orlando International Airport, this eagle was recently released back into the wild in Florida.
She was the 346th rehabilitated eagle released by The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, Florida.
A wildlife management agent at the airport discovered the eagle with multiple fractures to her wing and bruises all over her body. Volunteers suspect she was clipped by a plane and then tumbled on the ground, said Lynda White, EagleWatch Coordinator for the center.
Founded in 1979, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey has treated over 12,000 injured or orphaned raptors,more than 40% of which have been returned into the wild.
The center handles the largest volume of eagles, owls, falcons, hawks, and kites east of the Mississippi River, provides environmental education programming, fights to save endangered and threatened birds of prey and operates an "Eagle Cam," which you can view here.
To see an award winning PBS special on the organization click here.
(Photo by Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)
