Officials intervene after second Decorah eaglet dies

DECORAH — Leaders of the Raptor Research Project, pioneers in bringing streaming video of eagle nests to Internet viewers, have twice this spring faced difficult decisions of whether to intervene in the birds' affairs.

They opted not to intervene two weeks ago when one of the three eaglets in the Decorah North nest died of natural causes, probably hypothermia and hunger in part attributable to the aggressive behavior of an older sibling.

When the second of the three hatchlings died Wednesday, apparently after eating tainted prey fetched to the nest by one of its parents, they decided to take action.

Amy Ries, a member of the non-profit research group's board of directors, said they typically do not intervene in nest life when the birds face natural threats such as bad weather, predators, injuries and aggression.

'But poisoning is not nature taking its course, and all parties agreed that intervention was appropriate and allowable in this case,' Ries said.

The mother eagle also ate some of the tainted prey and became gravely ill, John Howe, the group's executive director, said. Fearing that she too would die, Howe said he turned off the nest camera to avoid exploiting the eagle's suffering. 'We did not want people to watch an adult eagle die,' he said.

While Ries secured all the required permits for entering the nest, Raptor Resource Project board members Neil Rettig, Dave Kester and Laura Johnson, a veterinarian, formulated a plan for recovering the tainted prey, which Howe described as a 'furred animal,' from the nest.

'We were worried that the remaining eaglet would eat some of it, and we also wanted to do an autopsy to determine the poisoning agent,' Howe said.

By Thursday morning the mother eagle appeared to be recovering, according to Howe. When she left the nest, Rettig, a skillful and experienced climber, donned spiked shoes, climbed the 60 feet to the nest and plucked out the tainted prey with a gaff pole.

Group leaders await the results of an autopsy to be performed at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Howe, who turned the camera back on shortly after noon Friday, said the remaining eaglet appears healthy and thriving.

The original Decorah eagles nest near the Decorah fish hatchery south of town has been online for several years. The north nest was only recently outfitted with cameras and microphones and went online earlier this year in partnership with Explore.org.

Howe said the parent eagles at the hatchery nest have exceptionally reliable food sources, which contributes to their remarkable success as parents. The parents at the north nest have to scramble more for food, he said.

The north nest can be viewed at raptorresource.org (clicking on bird cams at the top) or here.