WASHINGTON — Several bald eagles turned up sick or dead in Delaware over the weekend, about 30 miles from the Maryland area where 13 eagles died in February.
The Delaware eagles were found in a Sussex County farm field Saturday and Sunday.
The ones that were not already dead appeared to be sick and or disoriented.
In all, five eagles died and another five were taken in for treatment by Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark.
It’s not known yet what’s sickening and killing the birds.
“The ones that had died, necropsies have been performed on them. Samples have been taken, tissue samples, blood samples,” said Sgt. John McDerby with Delaware Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police.
He expects the test results to come back in a few days.
A joint investigation is underway involving Delaware Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
“We don’t think that these birds are in any way tied to the Federalsburg, Maryland eagles,” McDerby said.
“There’s a pretty big distance between the two locations, and in this early stage of the investigation, we don’t want to make any kind of assumptions or guesses or anything like that until we have all the facts.”
In the Federalsburg case, investigators announced earlier this month that the eagles did not die of natural causes.
If you see a sick bald eagle in Delaware, you’re asked not to approach it.
Instead, call the Delaware Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police dispatch center at 1-800-523-3336.
Anyone with information about what happened to the birds can report an anonymous tip through the 24-hour Operation Game Theft hotline at 1-800-292-3030.
