TOLEDO, Ohio — Wildlife rescue organization Nature's Nursery released a rehabilitated bald eagle back into the wild at the Glass City Metropark Wednesday afternoon.
Allison Aey, the nursery's executive director, said the juvenile bird was found in July 2022 not too far from the park, its original home.
"It came in really emaciated, very dehydrated and looking kind of sick," she said.
While not every rescued animal can always be released back into the wild, such as an injured bald eagle that Nature's Nursery rescued from Point Place and eventually released to the care of the Toledo Zoo, releasing the eagle on Wednesday back into the wild was important as that bird in particular needed the freedom to spread its wings.
"They're used to having the freedom to fly and spread their wings," Aey said. "So a lot of times in cages, even large cages, they can cause more damage when they're in there and hurt their wings and stuff. That was the case with this particular bird. It suffered some more injuries while we were trying to rehab it and get its health up to speed. So there were a few setbacks. We wanted to get it released sooner but here it is a year later and it's ready to go and we are excited to see it take off and live free."
The striking image of America's national bird taking to the skies the day after Independence Day was not lost on Aey.
"Getting the unique animals like this and especially right here after Independence Day, to release a bald eagle is just phenomenal," she said.
With a traditional "one, two, three" countdown (and a little encouragement from a Nature's Nursery employee), the eagle burst from its cage and took off in the direction of the Maumee River.