Finding a New Home

About a dozen people watched Sunday as MU’s Raptor Rehabilitation Project released a 4-year-old bald eagle in Easley on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River.

L’aiglon, which is the French word for “eaglet,” was rescued in November 2006 from a farm in Callaway County. He had metacarpal fractures in his left wing, which is equivalent to a person fracturing the bones in the palm of his or her hand, said Kathryn Ketenbach, a recent MU grad and a member of the project.

Jen Hamel, also a project member, said the project wanted L’aiglon to be released at least a mile away from a nesting site because bald eagles can be territorial. The closest site was determined to be more than three miles away in the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, she said, which hopefully will give L’aiglon “easy living.”

Erin West of the Raptor Rehabilitation Project was happy to see L’aiglon fly off into the wild.

L’aiglon -- “eaglet” -- bolts from his release box moments after the door is opened on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near Easley on Sunday. The location was chosen because of the abundance of fish, which make up about 60 percent of an eagle’s diet.   ¦  ALEX GRIGSBY/Missourian