Eagles are a royal bird that, over the decades, has resisted near extinction.

In July, an injured eagle hobbled onto a porch in Lorain, not far from its nest in Lakeview Park South, where it lived with its mate and two eaglets. Locals call this bird Lorain’s eagle. The bird was missing many feathers, affecting its ability to fly.

News 5 spoke with Nikki Pieciak, who got help for the eagle.

Watch the original News 5 report on how the eagle was saved

Beloved eagle in Lorain on the road to recovery after being rescued

She said at that time: “We had to determine that we were not going to leave her until someone came to help her. »

The eagle spent several months Back to nature in Castalia, Ohio. The wildlife rehabilitation and nature education center will soon celebrate its 35th anniversary.

Mona Rutger is the executive director of the center. Her passion for animals and the outdoors began when she was a child.

“It gives us an opportunity to talk about the natural world and the beauty of nature and, look around, notice it,” Rutger said.

The center helps injured, orphaned and displaced wild animals find a second life. It captures birds like owls and hawks, some mammals and reptiles.

Rutger said most of the animals that come to them are released into their natural habitat.

“I’m as excited as anyone, maybe even more, to see something in nature that’s healthy and strong and free,” Rutger said.

Rutger and his team, including Alexa and Paige, had high hopes for the Lorain Eagle.

“It was missing a huge window of feathers, you know, like a whole lot of secondary feathers, which are really crucial to their flight. It gives them the lift that they need and the maneuverability,” Rutger said.

Lorain resident Paul Schmidlin has taken thousands of photographs of the Lorain Eagle and its family. He also runs a Facebook page dedicated to local eagles. He said he noticed the Lorain Eagle’s injury last winter, long before it was rescued.

“And she really, really worked hard, and the extent of the damage continued to get worse throughout the summer,” Schmidlin said.

Watch News 5’s August report, in which wildlife experts provided an update on the eagle’s recovery.

Bald Eagle Lorain’s Convalescence Continues at Castalia Rehabilitation Center

For months, the bird lived in an outdoor enclosure at Back to The Wild, surrounded by other eagles cared for by the center.

I was able to see the team doing a medical exam.

“Mona, you’re here with your team and how does it feel to be so close to something so majestic?” I asked.

“You never get used to it. It doesn’t become an old habit. Every time it’s like, ‘Oh my God,'” Rutger said. “But it’s also heartbreaking because that’s not how you want to see a bald eagle, you know.”

The eagle has had visits to the vet. Some feathers grew back, but several feathers did not come back.

Rutger said it was not a candidate for emping, a procedure that is essentially a feather transplant, due to permanent damage to the follicles. Rutger said diseases like West Nile virus could be the cause, but she said this bird’s injuries appear to be caused by its contact with power lines.

“They fly under a lot of wires and stuff,” Rutger said. “She must have, you know, collided with some power lines. And I just separated them immediately. “

She said it’s something that happens more often than you might think. Rutger showed me two eagles in the center that had been in his care for some time after hitting some power lines.

“One of them broke both shoulders, that’s the male,” Rutger said. “The female was electrocuted and lost an eye and one of her wings was so damaged that it burned the feathers and bones.”

After months of care, the Lorain Eagle’s future becomes more evident.

“Well, I think we’ve come to the conclusion…and she’s just in a situation where she couldn’t survive in the wild,” Rutger said.

It’s a moving reality for caregivers and those who have observed the eagle from afar.

Rutger said she plans to apply for a permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife to consider the bird “non-release” and make it an educational ambassador .

“These are powerful educational tools that will benefit humans and wildlife everywhere,” Rutger said.

This is a new flight course that Schmidlin is eager to document.

“The people here Back to The Wild are the best place she could be,” he said.

Back to The Wild is a non-profit organization that receives no government funding. Rutger invites the public to visit his website Or Facebook page to learn more about its educational programs, including on-site activities.