Bald Eagle dies after Smithville tornado

This bald eagle was found with a broken wing March 9 on private land near Smithville Lake and it died on March 12. Conservation agents later found nearby an eagle nest downed by a tornado that passed through the area on March 6. The eagle had been placed in the care of licensed wildlife rehabilitators. This photo was taken as an agent prepared to transport it to a rehabilitator. Photo courtesy MDC — This bald eagle was found with a broken wing March 9 on private land near Smithville Lake and it died on March 12. This photo was taken as an agent prepared to transport it to a rehabilitator. Photo courtesy MDC

A bald eagle found with a damage wing last week at a Smithville Lake has died due to injuries according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The eagle died Sunday.

A passerby found the injured eagle at a roadside near the lake. The bird was taken by a Conservation Agent to a wildlife rehabilitation expert, and it was later taken to the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center in Columbia, where it died, said Conservation Agent Brian Bartlett. As tornados touched down in the area March 6, one passing through the Smithville Lake area knocked down a bald eagle nest on private land. The eagle suffered a badly fractured wing during the storm. A passerby found the eagle standing near the roadside on March 9 in the vicinity of Route F and Southwest King Road. That location is south of Trimble and just north of the Smithville, on the west side of the lake. Clay County Parks and Recreation rangers picked the eagle up and turned it over to Bartlett.

Smithville Lake usually has three or four active eagle nests, so eagles will still be in the area this spring. The return of nesting bald eagles to Missouri has been touted as a conservation success.