Eagle injured near Riverside put down, volunteers say

RIVERSIDE — A bald eagle struck by traffic near Riverside over the holiday weekend has been humanely euthanized, according to volunteers at The Raptor Advocacy, Rehabilitation & Education Group, an area nonprofit that sought to rescue the animal.

Jeanine Redlinger, a Riverside-area RARE Group volunteer, said the bird likely had a broken humerus, the bone connecting its wing to the rest of its body. She said she was initially somewhat optimistic about the animal’s survival, when she went to pick it up on Vine Avenue the afternoon of July 6.

“If it’s a fairly clean break, and we can get it in place … within a couple weeks, those bones will heal themselves,” she said. “It was a little feisty yesterday, which is a good sign, usually.”

Redlinger said she brought the raptor to RARE’s veterinary clinic outside of Iowa City, which the organization says treats about 150 birds of prey a year.

In an update few hours after that interview, however, she said the animal had been put down, saying the fracture in its wing was “too splintered and compounded to repair.” She said the eagle also may have also suffered from harder-to-detect internal injuries, and dehydration after falling prone on the hot pavement.

The animal’s body will be sent to the National Eagle Repository, a government agency that handles remains for America’s national bird, distributes parts and feathers to Native American groups, and provides educational programs about national wildlife laws.

Redlinger said the bird was found by a man traveling through the area from Nebraska, who saw two cars hit the bird on the road, close to a bridge over the English River. She said it was not an unusual place to find a bald eagle.

“Chances are, [the bird] was sitting on the road, eating roadkill, because they are scavengers,” Redlinger said. “And they like rivers a lot too, because of the fish.”

While she was disappointed by the outcome, Redlinger said she appreciated the efforts to coordinate an animal rescue, giving credit to the driver who found the bird, and to Washington County Conservation, which often works with RARE.

“We get birds from all over the state of Iowa, and I don’t think some counties respond like these guys do,” she said. “We really appreciate them.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com