Growth Warps Baby Eagle’s Beak

State wildlife officials removed a 1 -month-old baby eagle from its nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden on Thursday when they discovered a potentially life-threatening growth on its bill.

After biopsies were taken from the mass, the eaglet was transported to a wildlife rehabilitation center near Waynesboro for treatment.

Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries veterinarian Jonathan Sleeman said the diagnosis is uncertain, adding that the growth could be a tumor, avian pox or a bacterial or other infection.

"I’ve not seen something as large as this before," Sleeman said.

It’s been a rough mating season for the eagle pair, which lost four eggs before this eaglet’s birth on April 27.

The couple abandoned two eggs early in the breeding season when a young female eagle disrupted the nest. Two more eggs were laid, but were broken and lost when something startled the nesting female.

Reese Lukei Jr., research associate with the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary, said it’s too late in the breeding season for more offspring.

The growth was detected late last week from footage from a closed- circuit video camera trained on the nest. It was confirmed when an amateur photographer captured a telling picture on Sunday.

It’s on the left side of the eaglet’s mandible and appeared to be fast-growing, Lukei said.

Early Thursday, professional tree climbers retrieved the 2-pound eaglet from the nest and lowered it to the ground in a pouch. Mom and dad circled a good distance overhead.

The baby eagle was examined by Sleeman and state wildlife biologist Stephen Living. Tissue and blood samples were taken at the scene.

Sleeman said the mass was ulcerated and had grown so large that it blocked one nostril and had started to deform the eaglet’s beak. He said the baby was already having trouble breathing and that the growth soon would interfere with eating.

Experts originally suspected avian pox, a potentially fatal viral disease spread through mosquitoes and from bird to bird but poses no human health hazard.

While avian pox has not been ruled out, Sleeman said it’s not likely because this mass appears to be more aggressive.

Because surgery is possible, the eaglet will probably not be returned to the nest because of the lengthiness of recovery, Living said.

If all goes well, it will be reintroduced to the wild.

The eagle pair has made the garden home for the last five years, so there’s no reason to believe they’ll leave now, Lukei said.

Living said the eagle s "will definitely be stressed" by their baby’s removal but that they’ve proven to be resilient when it comes to their offspring. He urged eagle fans to not view the loss from a human experience. "This is distressing, but this pair has been through a lot," Living said.

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com

what happened

Early Thursday, professional tree climbers retrieved the 2-pound eaglet from its nest in Norfolk Botanical Garden and lowered it to the ground in a pouch. Mom, above, and dad circled a good distance overhead. Tissue and blood samples were taken and the eaglet was transported to a wildlife rehabilitation center near Waynesboro for further treatment. – online video