Residents of Majdan Zahorodynski (Chełm County) rescued two stuck white-tailed eagles that fell to the ground near their homes on Sunday. The birds were separated and taken to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Skrzynice.
The inhabitants notified the staff of Lublin Ornithological Society (Polish abbrev. LTO) about the incident. “On the spot, we found two eagles lying on the ground, which probably fought each other and clutched each other with their talons. One had claws embedded in its chest, the other in the head area and a pierced beak. We managed to separate the birds, although it wasn’t easy,” LTO’s Tomasz Bajdak said on Monday.
The eagles were transported to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Skrzynice. “The younger of the eagles that was less injured is in good condition, taking up food and will likely be ready for release in a few days,” he added.
According to Bajdak, the older eagle that sustained the head injury requires a more specialized veterinarian diagnosis. “The precise extent of the injuries must be determined because one claw was embedded near the eye, the other was in the beak and these are pretty serious wounds,” he explained.
The birds had rings on their legs so that their origin could be verified. “The older eagle was ringed as a nestling in 2007 in Tarnawatka, and last year it was near Zalesie Kańskie, which is about 10 kilometres from where the birds were found,” he said and added that the second bird was ringed in 2018 in Starzawa, Podkarpacie.
The white-tailed eagle is Poland’s largest bird of prey under total protection. The wingspan of this species can reach up to 240 cm, and the body length can reach 92 cm. It inhabits all types of forests. In Poland, the population of the white-tailed eagle is estimated at 1200-1500 pairs. The southeastern part of the country is home to about 60 pairs.