A routine training patrol on the Hudson River turned into a rare rescue for the New York Police Department’s harbor unit. Officers inspecting the ice on Tuesday morning noticed what appeared to be a white head protruding from a floating piece of ice.
“Last week, when it was cold, a lot of stuff was getting stuck in the ice, whether it was a float, a buoy, but it looked different,” Officer Michael Russo said on Wednesday. “I could see this white head from a distance. So I said, let’s get a little closer.”
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It turned out to be an injured bald eagle, soaked and bleeding, clinging to the ice in frigid waters.
Russo added that officers have had to rescue boaters, cruise ship passengers and animals like dogs while patrolling waterways, but never an eagle.
The rescue
As officers approached the bird, it screeched but never flew away. That’s when officers knew something was wrong.
They contacted the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to see if they retrieve the bird, and if so how. could retrieve the bird, and if so,
After receiving approval and directions, officers used a catch pole to secure the eagle’s wings, covered its head to keep it calm and brought it aboard their boat.
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“Once we did that, it really didn’t give us a hard time,” Russo said. “I think it kind of knew that we were trying to help it.”
Handlers later transferred the eagle to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey, where it’s now in very serious but stable condition.
Wildlife experts say bald eagles gather along the Hudson each winter — drawn by open water and fish — a symbol of recovery decades after near-extinction.
