A second chance at flight

The bald eagle didn’t linger.

Eight months after arriving at the Auburn University Raptor Center with life-threatening injuries, it was more than ready to return to the wild.

Under a clear August sky surrounded by the team that made its recovery possible, the eagle hopped out of its carrier and promptly flew to a nearby longleaf pine at the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment’s Autauga Experiment Forest.

It took to the sky minutes later, catching thermals and soaring alongside vultures.

The eagle was the Raptor Center’s last patient of 2025, admitted on New Year’s Eve by a community member who found it grounded in Prattville, Alabama.

An examination revealed that the eagle had two fractures in one of its wings, shotgun pellets embedded in its wings and chest and high levels of lead toxicity.

The Raptor Center’s final patient of 2025 landed on New Year’s Eve — a grounded eagle discovered in Prattville, Alabama and rushed in by a good Samaritan.

“This bird definitely suffered quite a bit of trauma before it made its way to us,” said Amberly Sokoloff, the Raptor Center’s veterinarian.

With so many health problems, the eagle’s recovery journey wasn’t simple.

Sokoloff performed surgery to repair the initial fractures, but the eagle quickly refractured the same wing while recovering in the flight aviary. Later, they discovered the eagle’s bones were fusing together in a way that could limit mobility, leading to a second surgery to restore movement and give the eagle its best chance at returning to the wild.

The next step involved physical rehabilitation, which the team conducted two to three times each week.

“The journey to rehabbing this bald eagle has been a long and grueling one, and I can’t say enough positive things about my team and the eagle — they persisted through this process,” said Raptor Center Director Robyn Miller.

The eagle’s recovery was anything but simple — multiple injuries, multiple surgeries and one of the longest rehabilitation journeys the Raptor Center has ever undertaken.

After months of regaining its strength and a thorough evaluation, the eagle was ready for release. Stephanie Kadletz, assistant director of raptor rehabilitation at the Auburn University Raptor Center, began searching for a suitable release site near the bird's original habitat.

Kadletz reached out to Preston Payne, a registered forester with the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment.

“It’s a perfect partnership,” Kadletz said. “They help manage all these natural lands, and that’s what we’re really looking for to be able to put these animals back into their natural habitat.”

Payne suggested the Autauga Experiment Forest, a predominantly longleaf pine forest ecosystem just 10 miles from where the eagle was found.

Managed through regular prescribed burns and timber thinning, the forest provides an ideal habitat for wildlife, including prey species like rodents and rabbits that sustain bald eagles and other raptors.

The eagle was released into the Autauga Experiment Forest — a longleaf pine ecosystem just 10 miles from where the bird was first found.

“I get excited every time the Raptor Center reaches out and says they’ve got a bird to release,” Payne said. “It’s another great use of our properties in addition to research and demonstration.” 

The release site location was just over an hour from the Raptor Center, making it possible for many staff members and volunteers to attend the release and see firsthand the impact of the countless hours they had invested in the eagle's care and recovery.

“This eagle was touch-and-go for us from the very beginning,” Miller said, adding that it was one of the longest rehabilitation cases the center has handled in recent memory. “I know that after all the blood, sweat and tears this team has put into this patient, we're all overjoyed at not only seeing this eagle return to the wild, but soar upon returning to the skies.”