One Wing was a bald eagle injured during the

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill was a major environmental disaster that occurred in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The spill occurred when ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Be ...

. He ingested crude oil and, during the rescue process, fought his would-be-rescuers and broke his own wing. As a result, it was amputated, and he lived out the rest of his life at the

Bird Treatment and Learning Center The Bird Treatment and Learning Center (also known as Bird TLC) is a wildlife rehabilitation center based in Anchorage, Alaska. It was founded in the 1980s by a veterinarian James R. Scott, and some of its early activities were funded partially by ...

in Anchorage. He served as a blood donor for other birds injured in the oil spill.

Life

One Wing, then an approximately ten year old bald eagle, was injured as result the 1989

and found by humans. Poisoned by crude oil, which was likely ingested as a result of eating contaminated prey, One Wing fought his rescuers and broke his wing. He and twenty three other bald eagles were sent to Bird TLC, a wildlife rehabilitation center in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

. The volunteers there amputated his left wing but, due to the extent of his injuries, did not expect him to survive. They made the decision to use him as a blood donor and drew blood from him from a daily basis. The center estimated that he had donated blood to "hundreds" of other birds during this time. Despite his poor prognosis, One Wing recovered. He was given a mew in Fort Richardson, which he shared with Old Witch, one of the other bald eagles injured during the oil spill. According to James R. Scott, the founder of Bird TLC and the veterinarian who rescued One Wing, the eagle had a defiant disposition, refused to have his beak or claws tended to, and rarely let Scott touch him. In the early 2000s, a boy scout built Old Witch and One Wing a new mew. One Wing and Old Witch laid eggs together, but they did not hatch. Old Witch died in 2007. In May 2008, One Wing died of a ruptured heart tumor. Bird TLC sought permission from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to have him cremated, and announced their intentions to scatter his ashes in

Prince William Sound Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the ...

. To commemorate the occasion, a local drum group was given permission to play an

Eyak The Eyak are an Alaska Native people historically located on the Copper River Delta and near the town of Cordova, Alaska. They are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast. Today, Eyak people live in Cordova, Yakutat, across Alaska, and the U ...

honor song.

''One Wing's Gift''

One Wing and his fellow birds at Bird TLC were featured in a children's book written and illustrated by Joan Harris. Harris had originally begun studying to birds at the center in order to complete a set of scientific illustrations. Published in 2002, ''One Wing's Gift: Rescuing Alaska's Wild Birds'' contains the story of One Wing and other birds from the center, and ends with nine of them being released back into the wild.

References

{{Reflist Individual eagles 2008 animal deaths Individual birds in the United States Exxon Valdez oil spill

Life

''One Wing's Gift''

See also

References