Wild Birds Unlimited Brings Eagle to Oakville

This Saturday, was graced with the presence of Clyde, a 5-year-old eagle who works with World Bird Sanctuary.

Most birds that come to the World Bird Sanctuary for rehabilitation have been hit by cars, although the sanctuary gets a few birds ever year that have been shot, poisoned, or who have run into barbed wire.

The World Bird Sanctuary releases 38-44 percent of the birds it gets, but some of the birds cannot be released safely, explains Naturalist Michael Zeloski, who handled Clyde during his Wild Birds Unlimited visit.

Clyde is missing a toe and has a bad right wing and cannot be safely released, and so he tours with the World Bird Sanctuary, giving communities a chance to see an eagle up close.

Fun Eagle Facts:

• Clyde eats a healthy diet of trout, carp, rabbits, deer meat and rats.
• Eagles can live into their 40s. The oldest eagle at the World Bird Sanctuary lived to be 49. The oldest eagle the World Bird Sanctuary has knowledge of in the wild lived to be 31.
• An eagle’s beak is not yellow when it is born. Clyde’s beak is only just now beginning to turn yellow. You can still see a bit of black in it.
• All of an eagle’s power is in its feet. The special glove that handlers wear is made of three layers of leather.