Bald eagle found in distress in Shirley park likely had avian flu and was euthanized, officials say

A second male bald eagle in Suffolk likely died from the avian flu that may increasingly imperil Long Island wildlife and already has led to the slaughter of nearly 58 million chickens nationwide, officials said.

The global virus can be spread by migratory birds, including America's national symbol.

As its mate screamed overhead, two intrepid rescuers struggled for two hours to capture the distressed eagle in Southaven Park in Shirley on Tuesday afternoon.

“It was terrifying,” said Karen Hill Maloney, of Bayport, a wildlife rehabilitator, noting its wingspan was six to seven feet.

“That eagle was coming at us with its talons and beak; I’m 5’1” and 108 pounds, and to have that thing hopping and jumping — oh boy!” said Maloney, whose protective gloves extended to her shoulders and who was aided by a friend, a licensed falconer.

Thousands of chickens have been killed on Long Island since the virus hit. Over the past year, the virus has been found in 187 birds around the state — 11 different species in Suffolk, and five in Nassau — including raptors, waterfowl, shorebirds and owls. Infected red foxes have been identified in six upstate counties.

 How much longer this outbreak lasts is hard to say. It already has spiked the price of a dozen eggs to an average of $4.25 in December from $1.67 in 2021, the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Krysten Schuler, an assistant professor in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, said by email: “This is definitely not the beginning, but it is hard to say when it will end, so the middle is the best guess.”

Infections among people around flocks "are expected, though rare," the World Health Organization said. On Thursday, it reported the first case in Latin America: a 9-year-old Bolivian girl.

Research suggests this virus now lacks "the ability for sustained transmission among humans, thus the likelihood of human-to-human spread is low," the WHO said.  

Just before Christmas, the much-beloved bald eagle named “Dad,” one of a pair in Centerport with their own Facebook page, was plucked from the cold waters of Spring Pond, but later died despite 24-hour care.

The severity of this second eagle's plight soon became clear to its rescuers.

“At first, it didn’t appear there was anything wrong with him, but it’s not normal that you can get that close to a bald eagle,” Maloney said, putting the distance at 20 feet. 

“Then he appeared to start having a seizure, and went from branch to branch" of a tree before falling to the ground, while making strange calls.

This sequence happened “over and over,” she said.

“At one point, he flew out and over Sunrise Highway, nearly hitting cars,” before returning to land on the median.

Maloney, fearing crashes on this often busy route, tried to slow traffic. Then, climbing a chain-link fence, the eagle's rescuers freed him from entanglements, including vines.

“He was hanging upside down,” Maloney explained.

Once the eagle was secured, she took him to the Hampton Bays-based Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Center. Chris Strub, executive director, said “it was really apparent he was having lots of serious seizures" and was in “poor overall body condition,” fighting other infections.

 "This looked to us like a highly pathologenic avian infection.”

Given the “extremely poor prognosis,” Strub said, the eagle was euthanized.

Whether avian flu killed both bald eagles will be determined by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Early test results found avian flu in Dad but they must be confirmed, the DEC said, along with the results for the second eagle.