Beauty and the Beak

Birds of Prey Northwest Ranch, Idaho

A bald eagle by the name of Beauty has received a prosthetic beak which may be the first of its kind. Years ago, Beauty lost the upper half of her beak when she was hit by a stray bullet in her home in Alaska. Rescued and taken in by Jane Fink Cantwell, Beauty was hand-fed for several years while she lived at the Birds of Prey Northwest Ranch.

A prosthetic beak was designed to help Beauty regain the ability to feed herself. While it may seem like a lot of work to save one bird, Cantwell points out that Beauty may still raise her own chicks or foster others. Though the bald eagle is no longer endangered, it seemed a waste to let an otherwise healthy adult starve for lack of a beak.

The new beak was applied to Beauty's face while she was fully conscious and gently restrained. It is technically a trial run, to be used to determine the perfect dimensions for a permanent prosthesis which will be made of tougher material. Although Beauty's caretakers do not plan on releasing her back into the wild, she will be able to live a relatively normal life on the ranch with the new beak.

To read more, and to see before and after photos, visit http://birdsofpreynorthwest.org/