ONTARIO — When Spike arrived at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary (OBS), caretakers didn’t know if he’d ever be able to have a quality life.
Now he’s flying free in open skies.
It’s not unusual for bald eagles to show up at the sanctuary, but their care needs are typically less severe. Some may come with an injured wing, others due to malnutrition.
“I’d say this is definitely one of the most intensive cases that we’ve had,” said Whitney Gibbons, a bird care technician at OBS. “I don’t think we’ve had any case as neurologic as this or any that we’ve needed to keep this long.
“He just needed honestly a lot of time and patience.”
Spike was discovered on July 4 by a wildlife officer in Wyandot County. He was rescued and brought to the OBS the following day.
“We were able to coordinate him being dropped off to us on a day we were actually closed, so we could start care immediately,” said Amanda Maugans, curator at the bird sanctuary.
Spike showed symptoms of a neurological disorder, so the sanctuary staff immediately treated him for toxicity and provided intensive care. He also began a regimen of anti-inflammatory medications.
“When he came to us, his head was turned completely upside down,” recalled bird care technician Whitney Gibbons. “He couldn’t orient himself correctly.”
The bird’s neurological damage was so severe that he couldn’t walk or pick up pieces of food. The staff spent his first few weeks feeding him a liquid diet, then force feeding him tiny pieces of fish with a pair of tweezers.
There were even times when staff thought he’d never make a full recovery and considered humane euthanasia. But Spike’s fighting spirit was relentless.
“He was touch-and-go for a while,” Maugans said. “Every time we kind of got to that point, he would turn around and start doing well again.”
After weeks of intensive care, Spike was able to move to an outdoor enclosure, where he began perching and flying for a few seconds at a time. Within a week, the staff saw his spatial awareness and coordination improve.
“In giving him more space, it allowed him to focus on other things so he could orient himself correctly,” Gibbons explained. “As soon as we moved him out to a larger enclosure, he was good to pick up bigger pieces of food on his own.”
By September, Spike had built up enough strength to fly back and forth inside his rectangular enclosure. Caretakers began taking him to the sanctuary’s octagonal flight path enclosure so he could fly laps.
Spike began circling the enclosure, successfully navigating turns and landing on perches.
“From the day that we put him in the flight cage, we were pretty sure he was going to be released,” Gibbons said. “We knew if he can make the turns in the flight cage and land on those perches that he would have a chance in the wild and we wanted to give him that chance.”
After weeks of conditioning, employees put Spike inside a carrier and drove him back to Upper Sandusky. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Spike waddled out of the carrier and took flight. Gibbons and other OBS employees watched as he soared confidently over a cornfield and faded into the horizon.
“He flew absolutely amazing, definitely beyond what we expected,” Gibbons said.
The Ohio Bird Sanctuary is able to care for and rehabilitate birds through community donations and entry fees. Some community members also donate fish and venison for the birds to eat.
“We rely so much on our community. We have a ton of visitors that come visit us from all around Ohio every single day,” Gibbons said. “Without all those people, Spike would not have had his second chance.
“It took a little part of everybody helping out to make (Spike’s release) possible,” she added. “That’s why it was so special — there were so many people involved.
“It took a little part of everybody helping out to make it possible. That’s why it was so special was there were so many people involved,” Gibbons said.
