13 Bald Eagles Found Dead in Federalsburg

Bridget Reed Morawski
WMAL

A man was searching for shed deer antlers on his farm in Federalsburg, MD. over the weekend, but instead discovered four bald eagle carcasses.

The Maryland Natural Resources Police were called to the farm, whereupon they found an additional nine dead bald eagles. Officers collected the birds and placed them in cold storage as evidence.

While a necropsy will most likely be conducted to search for pellets and other evidence of foul play, Candy Thomson of the Maryland Natural Resources Police says it’s possible that the birds died due to environmental factors.

“It could end up being a case of someone using poison to eliminate rodents, and that the bald eagles were attracted to the dead, but poisoned, carcasses and became sick themselves,” said Thompson. “But it could be something more than that.”

Bald Eagles have rebounded in recent years from a major population decline that resulted in an endangered designation; they were unlisted as an endangered species on the federal listing in 2007 and from the Maryland listing in 2010. However, there are still major penalties for killing the creatures, including a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is leading the investigation.