TOLEDO, Ohio — EDITOR'S NOTE: The attached video originally aired on March 4, 2022.
An injured bald eagle that has been under the care of Nature's Nursery since February has now landed at its new home: The Toledo Zoo!
The eagle was found in Point Place on Feb. 10 with an apparent injury to its wrist. The wildlife rehabilitation center received a call about the bird after typical operating hours, but special arrangements were made to pick it up.
"Having an eagle come in banded really helps us to learn more about its past," founding member Laura Zitzelberger said in March. "The band was traced and it was found that this eagle was originally banded in Ohio in its nest in 1995, making it 27 years old."
Through X-rays, Nature's Nursey animal technicians discovered the injury was an open dislocation with an infection.
Since then, Nature's Nursery has worked to help the bird recover.
The bird won't be able to be released back into the wild, but has instead been moved to the Toledo Zoo for retirement.
"The eagle has landed... at the Toledo Zoo! We are thrilled that this senior citizen raptor has a forever home after sustaining a wing injury that left it non-releasable! Thanks to everyone for your support and concern," Nature's Nursery said in a Facebook post Friday.
Representatives of the Ohio Division of Wildlife said they believe there are now more than 800 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Ohio, and more than 2,500 total birds — that's about 100 more pairs than two years ago and up dramatically from the late 1970s, when Ohio had just four breeding pairs.
Wildlife biologist Laura Kearns said there are nests in nearly every county in the state, but most of them are in Ottawa, Sandusky and Erie Counties.
"That section in Northwest Ohio where we have the Ottawa National Wildlife refuge and the Magee Marsh wildlife area. There's a whole system of coastal marshes and wetlands that the eagles [nest in]. It's just perfect habitat for the eagles," said Kearns.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Bald Eagle from the federal endangered species list in 2007.