Scott, a Senior Project Engineer for the AMETEK business O’Brien Corporation, has been a dedicated volunteer and contributor to the World Bird Sanctuary for over 10 years. Because of his commitment and the organization’s focus on sustainability, the AMETEK Foundation proudly provides matching contributions to support Scott’s passions.

The World Bird Sanctuary’s mission is to protect and preserve birds and their habitats through conservation, rehabilitation, and education. Nestled on 305 acres of forest in Missouri, the property houses an on-site hospital that specializes in rehabilitating injured birds of prey, also known as raptors. The hospital provides medical care to over 750 injured raptors each year with the goal of releasing them back to the wild.

The presence of raptors are indicative of the health of the environment due to their ability to help control pest levels and prevent disease, which helps maintain a balanced ecosystem.

Our colleague, Scott, recently had the unique opportunity to release a rehabilitated Bald Eagle from the World Bird Sanctuary’s raptor hospital. Read more about how it all unfolded.

How did you find the bird that you just recently released back into the wild?

My wife and I both volunteer for World Bird Sanctuary's hospital, aiding in the daily treatment of patients. We are also members of the rescue and transport group, going out into the community and picking up raptors that have been injured and then bringing them back to the hospital for care. We found this particular Bald Eagle about six months ago after she was most likely hit by a car and ultimately suffered a broken right wing.

Why did the rehabilitation process take six months?

In order to reach release, a raptor's flight needs to be near perfect so it can do the tasks it needs to do to survive, and she needed a lot of flight conditioning. Her problems stemmed from the lack of symmetry in her wings. Her injury changed her wing shape, so her muscles needed to be used in different ways. Muscles that were previously weaker are now responsible for holding her wing in the positions needed for good flight. It took her awhile to strengthen those weaker muscles and build her stamina up, but she is now able to fly just as well as she did with two uninjured wings!

How do you feel about being able to help this eagle on its journey toward recovery?

It’s really special. It’s always rewarding to be able to help, but since my wife and I were able to release her together after such a long recovery, it made it that much more special. She is a very strong bird with a lot of years ahead of her. She should thrive back in the wild.