TERF23 (tracked 4/21/2022 – 5/13/2022) - Hancock Wildlife Foundation

TERF23 (tracked 4/21/2022 – 5/13/2022)

TERF23 is a female adult eagle who was rescued by OWL (the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) on March 29, 2022, after being injured in a fight with another eagle. While she was at OWL, she was banded on April 4th, receiving USFW band number 0829-01705 and a more readable blue band on the left leg with the characters M over 6, she received a tracker, so we could follow her travels.

She was released on April 21st, and for a little over three weeks, she visited a number of spots in the greater Vancouver area, with a bit of a focus on the landfill, which does seem a common destination for a number of eagles of all ages. On May 11, she checked in from a location near the western tip of Vancouver, not far from Pacific Spirit Regional Park. There was one more update from the same general area on May 13th – and as of February 2023, that’s the last we’ve heard from her.

We will continue to check her map for updates – but I’m afraid I don’t expect to see any. She was not in a remote area when she stopped transmitting, so either the transmitter failed (possible but not likely after such a short time) or something happened to her. Most of our eagles with trackers are doing great – and it’s always sad when we stop hearing from an eagle.

There’s another picture of her and a bit more information on our Hancock Wildlife Forum thread for TERF23.

Here’s a picture of TERF23 when she was at OWL, probably the day she was banded. It looks as if there’s still a bit of dark coloring around her eyes, so she may have been a young adult, not quite ready to nest yet.

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