Artificial Beak for Bald Eagle



Beauty is an Alaskan bald eagle whose beak was shot off several years ago. She was found in 2005, unable to properly hunt or eat. She was taken to a refuge, but her beak did not grow back. Now she will get a new one!

“For Beauty it’s like using only one chopstick to eat. It can’t be done” said biologist Jane Fink Cantwell, who operates a raptor recovery center in this Idaho Panhandle town. “She has trouble drinking. She can’t preen her feathers. That’s all about to change.”

Cantwell has spent the past two years assembling a team to design and build an artificial beak. They plan to attach it to Beauty next month. With the beak, the 7-year-old bald eagle could live to the age of 50, although not in the wild.

“She could not survive in the wild without human intervention,” Cantwell said.

The nylon-composite beak will be glued on, so it won’t be strong enough to rip flesh like a normal eagle, but will allow her to drink normally and eat food she is given. Link -via Digg


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Posted on May 6, 2008 at 3:55 pm by Miss Cellania
Category: Animal



13 Comments to "Artificial Beak for Bald Eagle"

  • BatskyStarman
    May 6th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    “She could not survive in the wild without human intervention,”

    They mean, “She could have survived in the wild without human intervention” Lol

  • kid_icarus
    May 6th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    how sad….although i wonder now if its halitosis is better or worse…..and why can’t they make a beak capable of ripping flesh?

  • Jerse
    May 6th, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    Announcer guy from the movies:

    In a world gone mad … Beauty is shot in the face and left for dead … but comes back this summer as … BADASS HYBRID BIRD-OF-PREY

    In theaters August 14th

  • L.C.
    May 6th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    People suck.

  • Miss Cellania
    May 6th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

    kid_icarus, according to the linked article, the glue is an alternative to stronger screws. They decided against screws because the prosthetic would have to be attached too close to the bird’s eyes and brain.

  • Alannah
    May 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    Wow. I had no idea we could do this kind of thing.

  • SenorMysterioso
    May 6th, 2008 at 11:30 pm

    What is taking them so long? Ive seen macaws with prosthetics before.

    It sucks that someone shot her but Im not surprised, in Alaska bald eagles can be quite the pests. (not defending it btw)

  • SiteSeer
    May 6th, 2008 at 11:39 pm

    Even without a beak the bird looks murderously intense.

  • Carruthers
    May 6th, 2008 at 11:57 pm

    L.C. says “People suck”. Do you mean the people taking the insanely great care of this eagle to give it a new beak? Or do you mean the hunter who fired a shot at it? Or perhaps you’re just a human-hater who thinks virtually any action that isn’t in harmony with “Goddess Gaia” and all her wonderful creations is a crime?
    With those two words L.C. you seem to poetically point out one of the “eternal truths” of humanity - and simultaneously place yourself in the “suck” section.

  • S-r-ex
    May 7th, 2008 at 2:51 am

    L.C. really has a point. Humanity sucks in general. We’ve shot animals for fun, we fight over religion, we’re ruining the atmosphere…frankly, I think the Earth would do better with us in the pre-stone age…

    For Beauty, she’s a lucky one. I hope Neatorama follows her progress.

  • DanO
    May 7th, 2008 at 6:28 am

    carruthers should calm down i think.

  • astrodex
    May 7th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    I found an orphaned duckling about 20 years ago and took it to a retired vet who was recommended by the Audubon Society. He and his wife had a garage filled with Cockatoos and Cockateels and a houseful of other birds. They showed me pictures of a duck whose bill the vet had reconstructed using dental materials. It wasn’t pretty but it was functional. However, ducks don’t usually have to rip flesh. Usually.

  • fsmarch
    May 8th, 2008 at 1:09 am

    You hit the nail on the head, BatskyStarman.

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