A bald eagle that was parked on a hobby farm in the South Okanagan, unable to take flight for three days, has gone into the care of a local raptor rescue.

The big bird landed on December Jewel’s acreage in Keremeos a few days ago where it ate one of her roosters and refused to fly away.

“The dogs were barking and I thought there were ravens in the rooster pen,” she said. “I saw a big bird on the ground making strange movements and realized it was an eagle that was pulling a rooster through the fence, eating it.”

Foster kept the dogs away and approached the eagle, but it remained on the ground not moving. While the raptor didn’t appear injured, she called the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls, a local raptor rescue organization, for advice.

“I was told the eagle was probably just grounded and couldn’t fly because it ate too much,” Foster said. “It wouldn’t be able to take flight again until it pooped or puked, which could take several days. I didn’t know that could happen to eagles.”

An eagle sits on the ground with wings partly spread. — A bald eagle on a Keremeos property is unable to fly. SUBMITTED/December Foster

Eagles are fierce hunters that feed on a wide variety of live prey including birds, fish and reptiles, as well as carrion. They don’t need to eat every day and healthy eagles can go for days without food.

When they do snag a snack, eagles sometimes gorge, consuming a lot in one sitting, according to Enoch Wildlife Rescue. The food is stored in the eagle’s crop and slowly pushed into their tiny stomachs for digestion. Large meals can weigh the birds down, temporarily limiting their flight abilities, while being full reduces their incentive to move.

Foster left the eagle alone as instructed and kept track of its whereabouts while keeping her dogs away and her chickens safe.

It stayed on the property for the following two nights, walking near her yard.

“The second day I thought he’d left but he was in the neighbour’s yard,” she said. “I went out to see him and instead of running away he was pressed against the fence staring at me.

“I sat with him and tried to zoom on his energy and figure out what was wrong with him. It was so awesome.”

The hobby farmer owns sheep, peacocks and guinea fowl and has seen a lot of different wildlife species pause on her property over the years, but it’s the first time a bald eagle made an appearance.

She was able to capture some photos and videos of the majestic bird.

“I don’t have words to describe seeing an eagle up close,” she said. “It was amazing. At one point a couple of his buddies showed up, circling overhead.”

After several days passed without the raptor moving along, the rescue society picked it up today, Nov. 9, to take into care and assess its condition.

“They got it into a crate and it went limp when they put a towel over its head,” Foster said. “Its talon was clinging onto a loop in the net, so the net had to be cut.”

She said she learned a few things from the experience.

“At first, I’d given the eagle the rest of the rooster it had been eating but later took it away. I learned to never feed wildlife.

“A key message is it’s very common for eagles to eat so much they get grounded. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s injured, but it’s good to call SORCO just in case and work with them. It’s a process where at first you wait and see if it flies away before taking the next step.”

Dale Belvedere with SORCA said the eagle is in a safe enclosure and will be closely monitored. It is in good health other than being gorged on food.

“It’s something that happens with eagles, they get too heavy and we have to wait for them to digest,” she said. “We see it often in the spring when they come down to feed on afterbirth when calves are being born.”

Once the eagle has recovered the society will be releasing it back to the wild within a fifteen-kilometre radius to where it was found.

SORCO Raptor Rehab Centre is located in Oliver and serves as the only raptor rehabilitation facility for the entire Okanagan Valley and West Kootenays. The centre has rehabilitated injured birds of prey for release back into the wild for almost four decades and relies solely on public donations for the work they do.

Foster runs an uplifting Instagram account featuring all the animals on her farm she calls ‘Dee’s Funny Farm.’

“I think the eagle wanted to stay but I have too many critters here he can eat,” she said.

If you’ve found an injured raptor, call (250) 498-4251.