When a Bald Eagle Is On a Crosswalk in Bayonne

In early November, a bald eagle landed at Ninth Street and Avenue A in Bayonne and took a limping walk around the neighborhood. Bayonne is not a typical place for an eagle and walking is not a typical way for an eagle to travel.

At that time, November 10, the eagle was not captured or examined up close, but appeared to be injured or very weak.

Then, on November 17, the same eagle was located in a yard in Staten Island. It was unable to fly. The homeowner called the Staten Island Zoo, which contacted the Raptor Trust in Millington, NJ where the bird was brought.




The bird was banded as a nestling in Virginia in 2009. It was reported to be blind in one eye from an old injury.

Bald eagles were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007. They are currently listed as endangered (breeding season) and threatened (non-breeding season) in New Jersey. But they are an important success story for New Jersey's endangered species program. In 1982, there was one nest in the state and in 2016 there were 172 eagle nests.

The Bayonne bird is reported to be gaining strength. The Raptor Trust suspects that lead poisoning may be what caused the bird's weakness.  Eagles when scavenging can get lead poisoning from eating an animal that was shot with lead ammunition as well as drinking lead in water.

Golden Eagle Rescued and Released

Chris Soucy Executive Director at The Raptor Trust and Don Bonica owner of Toms River Avian Care release a rescued golden eagle which was fitted with a solar powered transmitter from a ridge at the Montclair Hawk Watch. Montclair, NJ 3/25/16 (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

One of the good stories to report. A golden eagle found in a snare trap by a hunter in South Jersey has been rehabilitated by the staff and volunteers from Toms River Avian Care and the Raptor Trust in Millington and is back in the sky. Golden eagles are a rare visitor to New Jersey.

Now fitted with a GPS transmitter (a first for this bird species in NJ), biologists can track the bird. Using the ridges from the release point at the Montclair Hawk Watch and following the Hudson River, it was likely the bird would head towards Canada.

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle.

These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes. Immature eagles of this species typically have white on the tail and often have white markings on the wings. Golden eagles use their agility and speed combined with powerful feet and massive, sharp talons to snatch up a variety of prey (mainly hares, rabbits, marmots and other ground squirrels).


Photo by Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18249270