Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel eaglet dies from an unknown illness, “It’s been brutal.”
By Garrett Behanna, Ricky Sayer
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — An eaglet at the Glen Hazel nest has died following an unknown illness, officials say.
The eaglet, referred to as GH4, died Sunday morning, according to a joint statement from Tamarack Wildlife Center, PixCams, and the Glen Hazel “eaglecam” team. The other eaglet, GH3, is also ill, and the mother may also be showing signs of illness. The cause and origin of the illness remain unknown.
“It’s been brutal,” Carol Holmgren, the Executive Director of the Tamarack Wildlife Center, said of watching the live stream of sick eaglets. “These birds are members of our family.”
Holmgren, who also acts as a wildlife rehab partner for the live cameras of the eagles, wished there was something she could do.
“I’m used to being able to treat injured and sick wildlife,” she said. “So I was about ready to go climb that tree last night, but I knew I couldn’t.”
In a previous social media post from PixCams, officials said intervention at an eagle’s nest requires both state and federal approval, due to the eagles’ protected status, adding that intervention at a nest is only typically granted for threats to the life of an eagle that have a clear human origin, such as the fishhook incident at the U.S. Steel nest.
She is fighting to get the special permission to either remove the deceased eaglet to determine why it died, or remove the other eaglet from the nest so it could be treated. She stressed they support whatever the decision is.
Without permission, she and others had to watch as GH4 died at just 43 days old.
“I’m grateful he is not suffering,” Holmgren said.
She gave kudos to the moderators in the live stream chat who noticed the subtle signs that something was wrong on Thursday and alerted her.
“There are a number of issues, both illnesses or toxins, that can cause these same behaviors,” she said.
Remarkably, in 14 years of having cameras trained at the mother’s nest, they’ve never experienced an eaglet death.
“That’s unusual,” Holmgen said. “There can be up to 50% mortality among eaglets, which is not uncommon.”
The mother eagle, she says, “Mom,” was the first eagle to nest in the Pittsburgh area in 150 years.
Holmgren said they have health concerns about her, too.
“We are seeing behavior changed,” she said, adding that “Mom” was resting more and eating smaller bites
As for GH3’s health, there are signs that they are doing better.
“I would say we’re not out of the woods, so that’s the challenging thing,” she said.
She hopes they both pull through. There were no signs for concern on the father Eagle, she said.
“For many, many people, this is hitting us hard, and we need to tend self-care and tend each other through these challenging times,” Holmgren said.
The live camera of the Eagle Nest is staying up in an effort to be transparent, she said.
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