Saving America’s Eagle

Hallie lay at the edge of a river, her feathers coated with mud. Sharp pain shot up and down her left wing.

Just hours earlier, the eagle had been soaring over a swampy wilderness in eastern Florida. It was December 30, 1971, and the winter had been unusually warm so far. A humid breeze tickled Hallie’s feathers as she skimmed through the trees. Her wings stretched out 6 feet across—as long as an adult human is tall. She may have been on her way back to her nest, where her mate was waiting with two eggs that would soon hatch into baby eagles.

All of a sudden . . . POP. 

Something tore into Hallie’s wing, instantly shattering the bone to pieces. The eagle could not have known she had been shot illegally by a hunter. All she could tell was that she was falling, falling to the muddy ground below.

And that’s where she stayed, her wing too injured to carry her back to her treetop nest. Would she find the strength to fly back home? Would she even survive?

Hallie lay on the ground, her feathers covered with mud. She felt pain up and down her left wing.

Just hours earlier, the eagle had been flying in the sky over eastern Florida. It was December 30, 1971. A breeze tickled Hallie’s feathers as she flew. Her wings stretched 6 feet across—as long as an adult human is tall. She may have been on her way back to her nest.

All of a sudden . . . POP. 

Something tore into Hallie's wing, breaking the bone to pieces. The eagle had been shot illegally by a hunter. Suddenly, she was falling to the muddy ground below.

And that’s where she stayed. Her wing was too injured to fly. Would she be able to get back home? Would she even survive?

Bald eagles like Hallie have been living in North America for more than a million years. As many as 500,000 of them once lived across the continent.

To many Native Americans, the first people to live on this land, the huge bird was (and still is) a sacred creature. In the tales of the Salinan people of California, the eagle made the first humans. The Lakota people tell stories of the bird as a messenger to the gods. In some Native American cultures, eagle feathers are gifted to celebrate major life events, like graduating high school.

After the United States became a country in 1776, the founders chose the bald eagle as its official symbol. With its powerful wings, golden eyes, and crown of white feathers, the bird seemed to show the new nation’s freedom and strength.

But before long, Americans’ feelings about their national bird began to change. Farmers said that eagles were stealing their chickens and pigs. Parents spread rumors about the birds taking babies in their huge talons. Over the next century, people killed thousands of eagles. 

By the 1900s, scientists had learned that bald eagles are not evil killers. Although the birds are predators at the top of the food chain, they eat mostly fish (not human babies). Many Americans realized they couldn’t let their country’s symbol become extinct. In 1940, leaders made it a law that Americans couldn’t harm or kill eagles in any state.

But even with the new law, some people continued to shoot bald eagles illegally. That's how Hallie ended up with a bullet in her wing in 1971. 

As the eagle lay in the mud, she was spotted by a man working in the area. The worker didn’t know how to help the bird. But luckily, he knew who did. He called the Florida Audubon Society. That’s an organization that protects birds. 

One of the people who responded to the call that day was a woman named Doris Mager (MAY-guhr). Years earlier, Mager had been working at the Florida Audubon gift shop when someone brought in a hawk that was hurt. At the time, almost no one—including Mager—knew how to care for large predator birds like hawks and eagles. But slowly, learning as she went, Mager brought the hawk back to health. Since then, she had become an expert on birds of prey. She was known for rehabilitating hurt eagles, hawks, and owls in her own backyard.

Now Mager and other Audubon workers raced to help Hallie. The team brought her to the veterinarian. There, Hallie was given medicine to help her sleep. A pin was then put inside Hallie’s left wing to try to fix the bone. 

After surgery, Hallie was very weak. Mager and her team hoped that the eagle would live.

As Hallie was healing, the future for bald eagles everywhere was looking grim.  

It wasn’t just because of illegal hunting. In recent decades, there was a dangerous new threat. The threat was a chemical called DDT. During World War II, DDT had been used to kill bugs—like mosquitoes—that spread deadly diseases to American soldiers fighting around the world. After the war ended in 1945, the chemical had become popular for controlling bugs back in America. 

The problem was that DDT didn’t just kill bugs. It hurt all living things. Across the country, fish were found dead in rivers and lakes. Farm animals were being born with strange illnesses. Forests that had once been filled with birds’ songs were now quiet. 

And bald eagles were quickly disappearing too. Female eagles that were exposed to DDT had problems laying eggs. Some could not make eggs at all. If they could lay eggs, the shells were so weak that they broke easily. Any chicks that did hatch usually had bad health problems. As DDT spread across the country, more and more eagle parents had empty nests with no chicks.

In 1972, most uses of DDT were finally banned in the U.S. It was a win for America’s animals. Yet for the bald eagle, it looked as if the win may have come too late. By then, bald eagles were endangered in almost every state. Outside of Alaska, fewer than 1,000 were in the country. 

It seemed that America’s bird might soon disappear from most of the U.S. 

But eagle experts like Doris Mager were determined not to let that happen.

In the months after Hallie’s surgery, Mager carefully nursed the eagle back to health in a large cage in her green, tree-filled backyard. She hand-fed Hallie fish like trout, wearing thick gloves to protect herself from the eagle’s sharp talons. As she worked, she chatted softly to the wounded bird. 

“It helps to soothe and calm them down,” she explained at the time.

Day by day, Hallie grew stronger. By April, she was well enough to begin attempting to fly. Mager led her through exercises to strengthen her wings, bending and stretching them to help build up the muscle. Unless the eagle could learn to fly again, she would not be able to return to her family in the wild.

Meanwhile, Mager was treating more and more bird patients. By 1979, her backyard was filled with the squawking of 36 birds, including six eagles. Mager and other Audubon members realized they would need a real center with the right tools to rehabilitate birds of prey. But they did not have enough money to build it.

So Mager hatched a bold—and unusual—plan. In June 1979, she climbed a rope ladder up a 50-foot pine tree into an abandoned eagle’s nest. Her goal was to live in the nest for a week, raising money for the new center by bringing attention to the struggles of eagles.

Over the next week, thousands of curious onlookers and reporters flocked to the nest to see the “Eagle Lady.” Donations poured in. And four months after Mager climbed down from her treetop perch, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey officially opened its doors. 

But eagle experts like Doris Mager were determined not to let that happen.

In the months after Hallie’s surgery, Mager brought the eagle back to health in a large cage in her backyard. She fed Hallie fish. As she worked, she talked softly to the bird. 

“It helps to soothe and calm them down,” she explained at the time.

Hallie grew stronger. By April, she was well enough to begin trying to fly. Mager led her through bending and stretching exercises to make her wings stronger. Unless the eagle could learn to fly again, she would not be able to go back to the wild.

Meanwhile, Mager was helping more birds. By 1979, her backyard was filled with 6 eagles and 30 other birds. Mager and other Audubon members realized they would need a real center with the right tools to help birds of prey. But they did not have enough money to build it.

So Mager came up with a plan. In June 1979, she climbed a ladder up a 50-foot tree into an empty eagle’s nest. Her goal was to live there for a week. She would raise money for the new center by bringing attention to the struggles of eagles.

Over the next week, thousands of curious people and reporters flocked to the nest to see the “eagle lady.” People donated a lot of money. Four months after Mager climbed down from the nest, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey opened. 

Around the time Mager was helping Hallie and other eagles in danger, more experts across the country were working to raise new bald eagles. Scientists took baby eagles from Canada and places in the U.S. where the birds still lived free from DDT. They brought them to places where eagles had died out. The scientists cared for the baby eagles until they were old enough to fly. Then they set them free into the wild.

This was a huge success. Over the following decades, eagles came back. Soon the birds could be seen snatching fish and building nests. 

By 2007, the bird was no longer endangered. Today some experts think that there may be as many eagles in America as when the country first began.

This has been one of the greatest conservation successes ever. But the story isn’t over yet. The birds have had trouble existing safely and peacefully next to humans. Each year, thousands of bald eagles are hit by cars, zapped by power lines, and kicked out of their nests as trees are cut down. Illegal hunting is also still a problem.

That’s why, until she passed away last year at 98, Mager remained dedicated to eagle conservation. When she wasn’t helping injured birds of prey, she made it her mission to educate people about them. Together with a crew of her rescue birds, Mager traveled across America in a big white van with an eagle painted on the side. At schools and community centers, she spoke about the importance of protecting birds of prey like Hallie. 

Sadly, Hallie was never able to fly again, so she could not return to her beloved home in the Florida swamps. But she lived the rest of her life happy at a wildlife research center in Maryland, cared for by scientists who were working to bring eagles back. 

According to Mager, it is up to all of us to make sure America’s bird soars through the skies for centuries to come. “I want you to understand that they’re not my eagles,” she would tell people. “They’re your eagles. They’re everyone’s eagles.” 

That’s why, until she passed away last year at 98, Mager stayed dedicated to eagle conservation. When she wasn’t helping hurt birds of prey, she made it her job to educate people about them. Mager traveled across America with a group of her rescue birds. At schools and community centers, she spoke about why protecting birds of prey like Hallie was important. 

Sadly, Hallie was not able to fly again. So she could not go back to her home in the Florida swamps. But she lived the rest of her life happy at a wildlife research center in Maryland. There she was cared for by scientists who were working to bring eagles back. 

According to Mager, it is up to all of us to make sure America’s bird flies through the skies for years to come. “They’re not my eagles,” she would tell people. 

“They’re your eagles. They’re everyone’s eagles.”