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A bald eagle spreads its wings as it is released back into the wild Friday near Rexburg, Idaho. The eagle was shot last November near Tetonia, Idaho, and was sent to a Colorado rehabilitation center, where it recovered and learned to fly again. NEWS&GUIDE PHOTO / BRADLY J. BONER

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A bald eagle found in early November with a gunshot wound to its wing returned to the wild Friday in what advocates called a success story.

“It was an incredibly beautiful event,” said Roger Smith, a board member with the Wilson-based Teton Raptor Center.

Since February, the eagle had been relearning how to fly at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program facility in Fort Collins, Colo.

Raptor center board member Porgy McClelland picked up the bird at the Jackson Hole Airport at 9:45 a.m. Friday and drove it to the lower Henry’s Fork west of Rexburg, Idaho.

There, McClelland and others banded its leg and set it free just after 2 p.m.

“The bird took off, flew really well, flew across a small waterway and landed in a tree, where it kind of relaxed and sat and preened,” Smith said. “About 20 minutes later, it took off and they watched it fly about a mile before they couldn’t see it anymore.”

Idaho Fish and Game officials found the bird Nov. 1 outside of Tetonia with a gunshot wound that severely injured one wing.

They gave it to Teton Raptor Center, and for the next three months Smith, who also works as a naturalist for Three Creek Ranch, nurtured the bird back to health.

Early on, Smith wasn’t sure whether the bird would recover.

“[The bullet] broke the radius and the ulna right below the wrist,” said Smith, explaining that the bullet shattered the bones. “I wasn’t sure if we gave this bird much chance. There’s a lot of torque on the wing right there.”

Smith took the bird to his home, cleaning out the wound several times a week and, early on, injecting fluids so the animal didn’t become dehydrated.

“I had to force-feed this bird for almost three weeks,” he said. “Then we got him eating on his own, and he did really well. He got his strength back and became more aggressive, which is what you want to see.”

In February, McClelland drove the bird to Fort Collins, where the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program maintains an enclosed aviary where injured birds can recover their ability to fly. The eagle was supposed to fly in by helicopter Wednesday, but foul weather in Colorado forced the pilot to cancel.

McClelland called the bird’s release a success story and said “there were lots of smiles.”

You get a good feeling from nursing an animal back to health and seeing it return to the wild, he said.

While the wing has healed, Smith said the bird still has some challenges to overcome.

“My concern is, this time of year, all these eagles are on nests and they’re very territorial,” Smith said. “If, all the sudden, you introduce another eagle in the population, it is an intruder. Its chances of getting beat up are pretty good.”

Teton Raptor Center officials consulted with the Idaho Fish and Game Department, who in turn consulted with an eagle expert in the region to find a niche in the ecosystem with good habitat but no rival bald eagles. 

Rob Cavallaro, regional wildlife biologist with Idaho Fish and Game, said the site on the Henry’s Fork is good because it has no resident eagles, good cottonwood habitat and is relatively free of human disturbance.

Cavallaro said bald eagles remain a species of concern in Idaho. He said the eagle’s story also helps educate the public about the threats that remain to raptors, including poachers.