Eagle chick rescued after falling from nest

A wedge-tailed eagle chick had to be rescued after injuring itself falling from its nest 30 meters up a gum tree.

Healesville Sanctuary’s veterinary team identified a wing fracture, meaning the bird needed to rest in a contained space for a couple of weeks before learning to fly and building up fitness in order to thrive once returned to the wild.

The Australian sanctuary's Raptor Rehabilitation Centre treated the eaglet after it was found on the ground at a farm at Doreen north-east of Melbourne.

Still too young to fly and completely dependent on its parents, the young bird of prey had not yet learned to use its wings.

The fall left it with a fractured wing – an unusual and dangerous situation for a nestling that should still have been safely in the tree.

Healesville Sanctuary vet nurse Hayley Bradshaw said the hospital’s Raptor Rehabilitation Centre, with its large 100-meter round flight tunnel, was essential for a wildlife case like this.

She said: "These animals are big. They need space to move and do all their natural behaviors. Wedge-tailed eagles certainly can have their challenges due to their size, and they can be a little dangerous. But they are usually great at learning routines, and they tend to eat well in care."

The eagle was eventually able to be returned to its nest, which involved it being gently hoisted back to its nest by rope.

Hayley said being able to reunite this bird to its parents is the absolute best outcome, adding: "For all wildlife, we want to return them to the wild where they came from. For this animal, its very best chance of growing up and developing properly was to be with its parents, eating the right food, and behaving the way that they are supposed to in the wild. It was really rewarding for us to get that little one back out there."