Source: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9920246

March 6, 2010

(Photo: Southwest Wildlife Foundation)

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Humane Society of the United States has put up a $2,500 reward to help find the person who plucked out an injured golden eagle's tail feathers after it survived being hit by a car in Utah.

According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, a car struck the golden eagle on Highway 50 near Salina on Feb. 27. After the crash, someone plucked out the bird's tail feathers with pliers, possibly causing permanent damage.

The eagle suffered additional bumps, cuts and bruises from the initial crash and is currently in the care of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation in Cedar City.

Workers at the wildlife center will try to rehabilitate the bird but say it's unclear if its tail feathers will grow back and whether it can be released to the wild.

The golden eagle is a protected species, and the person responsible for the attack could face up to a year in prison and fines of up to $100,000.

Anyone with any information should call the Division of Wildlife Resources poaching line at 1-800-662-3337.

What can Stop an Eagle Laying?.

Interesting question.  The process of laying an egg is not without some considerable preparation on the part of the female.  Probably some months -- maybe a few weeks in eagles -- the body begins to prepare for the egg.  The pair bonding, the hollering, the courtship flights, the intimate moments including frequent mating,  has already stimulated the flow of hormones and started the process by which the ovary starts to develop minute eggs into full sized yolks that will erupt the body.

So for a few months the development is within the ovary but there are simultaneous changes taking place in the oviduct. It is growing the different areas where the protein and.....

What a week in the life of HWF:

A "First Egg at Sidney" and a "New Executive Director"

A big week for the Hancock Wildlife Foundation!

I must speak to Sidney Ma & Pa  -- we always count on them being precise. Delaying laying this year by 3 days from last year is just not the preciseness we count on! ((Officially the first egg will be recorded at  6:38PM  March 4, 2010))

But let's rejoice in "An egg at last". Let's hope two more follow.  There is data that many species can adjust the quantity, and certainly the schedule, of eggs laid.  Will this mean that since the Sidney pair have done so well the past few years that they will rest this year?  I doubt.  Two or three young seems to be the Sidney production. And more importantly, the Sidney environment is very productive. The shoreline, the fields and the road kills keep generating volumes of food.

What sets the egg laying date?

The timing is of course quite variable ....

Hancock Wildlife Foundation is very pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Pitt as the Executive Director of the Foundation. 

The question has come up from recent observations:  "Does egg laying immediately follow mating?"

Simply put -- No!  But of course we are dealing with live creatures so variability is the expected.   As many people have now observed many of our bald eagles start to breed immediately upon their return to the nesting territory from the brief fall or winter flight north.

I have commented several times .......

BY JENNIFER WEAVER • jeweaver@thespectrum.
com • March 2, 2010

CEDAR CITY - A golden eagle was taken to
Southwest Wildlife Foundation founder and raptor
rehabilitator Martin Tyner Sunday afternoon by a
game warden from the Utah Division of Wildlife
Resources after it was hit by a car in Delta.

The adult, male eagle, estimated between 5- to 6-
years-old, suffered a minor concussion and
bruising but something else potentially life-
threatening was also discovered in assessment of
the injured bird's health - his tail feathers had been
forcibly removed.

"When we pulled the eagle out of the dog carrier it
was kept in, the eagle actually had a band on it and
so we know the eagle came form Montana, so while I w
as recording the information from the band, my
wife Susan walked up and said, 'What happened to
his tail?'" Tyner said. "I turned the eagle over and
said, 'Oh, my God,' and every tail feather had been
ripped out."

Tyner said this isn't the first eagle he has treated
where the tail feathers were missing. He said there
are people who prize eagle feathers more than the
life of the eagle and there is a black market for them
as well. ...

To read the rest of the story please visit the following website:

 The Spectrum.com

submitted on behalf of Judy Allen

The Young Naturalists’ Club of Stanley Park

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