MANSFIELD — A reverent hush fell over the crowd Saturday morning as Scott Kotterman bent over and unlatched the door to the large dog crate.
For a few moments, the crate was still and the clearing quiet, save for a few clicks and beeps from the cameras of eager wildlife photographers.
Then, the crate thumped and rattled. A brown wing appeared. A juvenile bald eagle hopped forward, then flew.
Bird watchers of all ages stood quietly, holding back their applause so as not to startle the her.
The raptor soared upward, circling the clearing several times before landing clumsily — but successfully — in a nearby tree.
The crowd cheered.
Julie Schwartz, the executive director of the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, said watching the bird re-enter the wild was thrilling.
“I am part of about 200 releases every year, and it never gets old. I get full-body goosebumps every time,” she said. “It makes every hard day completely worth it.”
The bird released Saturday arrived at the sanctuary in July with a spinal fracture after being hit by a car.
“Obviously she needed a lot of rest and recuperation for the spine to heal, and then a lot of physical therapy to build her strength back up,” she said. “She ate a lot of fish along the way.”
The bird was released at the neighboring Clear Fork Conservation Area, located directly next to the sanctuary.
Employees at the sanctuary believe the eagle is less than 2 years old, based on her coloring.
“It takes eagles a full five years to develop the white head and tail,” Schwartz said. “They are all brown when they are first hatched, and then each year they’ll molt out some of those brown feathers and get in a few more white ones.”
Schwartz said where a bird gets released depends, in part, on its age. Bald eagles become territorial towards other adults, so sanctuary employees typically release adults near where they were found.
“In the case of a juvenile, it’s actually better if she just gets a whole new start somewhere else because she can establish her own territory then,” Schwartz said.
“If we released an adult bird in an area they didn’t know, they might get into battles over food, battles over nesting sites with other adults. But juveniles are given a little more grace by their fellow eagles.”
The young female eagle who took flight Saturday doesn’t have a name — at least not one given by the staff there.
“Every once in a while, a bird will show us their personality and will develop a little bit of a nickname,” she added. “But in general, when we are rehabilitating them, we don’t give them a name. We treat them as if they’re going back to the wild.”
Young eagle was rescued from Crawford County in July
Jen Adams didn’t believe the young eagle would ever soar again after she and her neighbors discovered it lying on the road this summer.
Adams was out with her German Shepherd when she noticed a UTV parked a few minutes from her house.
“One of my neighbors was blocking the road so nobody could hit her,” she recalled. “We got another neighbor to bring us a cage and a blanket. We got her in the crate and I brought her over.”
Adams brought the eagle to Ohio Bird Sanctuary, hoping she could regain enough strength to became an “ambassador” bird there.
After she dropped the eagle off, Adams said she received weekly updates from the staff on her progress.
“Seeing her fly today was amazing,” said Adams, a Crawford County resident and wildlife photographer.
“This is a wonderful place. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the staff here.”
Schwartz said the sanctuary takes in around 500 injured birds per year. That rehabilitation is funded through the non-profit’s events, visitor center admission, programing and donations.
The Ohio Bird Sanctuary has a living museum and aviary with more than 30 species of native songbirds and raptors. These “ambassador birds” live at the facility because they can no longer survive in the wild due to injury. Live bird displays are located outdoors along wheelchair and stroller accessible pathways.
The facility also has hiking trails and educational programming throughout the year.
“Without your help, we can not rehabilitate and release birds,” Schwartz told the crowd. “Every time you visit, every event you come to, you are a part of that.”
