DECSeeking Help To Find Bald Eagle Killer In Heuvelton

HEUVELTON — Officials with the state Department of Environmental Conservation are looking for help identifying the person responsible in the killing of a bald eagle earlier this week on the Oswegatchie River near the village.

The female eagle was observed by a resident as recently as Tuesday afternoon eating a deer carcass on the far side of the river along River Road in the town of Oswegatchie. On Wednesday evening, the eagle was found dead on the ice near open water.

After a brief external observation, a DEC officer determined the eagle appeared to have been shot by someone on the River Road side of the Oswegatchie River.

The DEC Pathology Unit in Albany is expected to perform a necropsy to determine a cause of death.

Mary Beth Warburton, a bird activist in Potsdam, said bald eagles are staying in the area longer this year because the of the mild winter. As long as they can eat fish, the birds will stay, she said.

Numbers have been growing for the bald eagles since they were downgraded from endangered to threatened in 1995.

Ms. Warburton, who is occasionally contracted by the DEC Endangered Species Unit, said there are about 24 bald eagles and 12 nests in St. Lawrence County, and she is confused why someone would kill a bird of prey.

"The bird was eating a deer carcass," Ms. Warburton said. "She was doing her job."

When DEC finds nests, they are not made public.

Human interaction with this threatened species sometimes scares the birds and causes them to abandon the nest, Ms. Warburton said.

If the female bird had a mate, her death probably prevented her mate from having young this mating season.

A DEC spokesman in Watertown said a full investigation has been launched.

"We're taking this serious," said Stephen W. Litwhiler. "This is a very rare occasion."

Those with information about the shooting are asked to contact police at 785-2231 or at 1 (800) 847-7332.

State law prohibits killing or injuring a bald eagle, and persons convicted of killing the bird are subject to a penalty of up to $5,000 and 90 days in jail. People who provide information leading to a conviction of a shooter are entitled to half of the fine paid, up to $2,500.

"This is just a horrible thing," Ms. Warburton said. "People don't realize what the birds go through to survive."