Bald eagle saved by bird group’s ‘brilliant’ rescue in Waukegan

Jim Tibensky was in the middle of trying to save a bald eagle stranded on a patch of ice in Waukegan Harbor when he realized he had to alter his plan of action.

Tibensky, a volunteer with the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, had kayaked to the middle of the harbor, towing another kayak, intending to put the eagle in it and pull it back to shore.

But it turned out the second kayak wouldn’t be needed, said Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.

As Tibensky approached the eagle, he noticed the wave created by his kayak pushed the chunk of ice on which the eagle sat. As Tibensky paddled closer, the kayak itself was able to push the ice.

“He had a brilliant strategy of realizing this bird was floating on a piece of ice and rather than grabbing it, if he were to continue to push the little iceberg that he was sitting on back toward shore where I was, I’d be able to reach down and pull it up with a net,” Prince said.

That’s exactly what happened. After Tibensky slowly paddled and nudged the eagle to shore, Prince scooped it from the harbor and placed it in a cage.

Her group, 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, they took the eagle to Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, 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.

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But since arriving at the wildlife center, the eagle quickly warmed up and gained some energy.

“They put him on treatment, and that night he ate all the food that they put in his cage,” Prince said. “He was actively eating, sitting up, made a big mess in his cage, kind of tore up the towels and everything, so he’s got some spunk in him.”

Although the eagle is still not fully alert, the quick turnaround in his condition has the nonprofit bird rescue group optimistic of a successful recovery.

By Tuesday evening, the bird’s condition remained stabilized, but its path to recovery has only begun.

“It sounds like he hasn’t changed dramatically in any way, but a good sign is that he’s eating, he’s alert,” Prince said. “It’s going to probably be a several months process for him to gain back his weight and his whole physical condition.”

The eagle is about 3 years old. The wildlife center could not determine whether it is male or female due to it being significantly underweight, Prince said. Bald eagles develop a full white head at around 5 years old.

It was the first save of 2023 for the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, which rescued more than 5,000 birds last year across Chicago and the suburbs.

As it happens, last year’s first rescue also was on New Year’s Day, also of a bald eagle — and that eagle also had ingested rat poison. It was found on the side of a road in Brookfield.

“That one made a full recovery and was released, so we’re all hopeful that the same thing is going to happen for this bird,” Prince said Monday.

And of the countless rescues the group has made throughout its 20 years of existence, Prince said Sunday’s was “one of the more amazing rescues that I think we pulled off.”

“It went effortlessly, the bird cooperated, we got him safely contained, and he’s got a good chance to survive,” she said. “Those are all really positive things for the start of the year.”