Overview
- SPCA Monterey County and the Houston SPCA each released a rehabilitated bald eagle in mid‑June 2026 after extended recovery at their wildlife centers.
- The Monterey bird arrived on Dec. 21, 2025 with a broken coracoid and signs of electrocution and spent more than 25 weeks in ICU care, receiving fluids, medication and repeated physical therapy to rebuild flight strength.
- The Houston eagle was found near the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge on March 20 with a suspected traumatic head injury, was transported by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service game warden, and completed about three months of anti‑inflammatory treatment, rest, exams and flight conditioning before release.
- Both releases involved SPCA veterinary and rehabilitation teams working with federal wildlife staff, and the Monterey center explicitly credited donor support while the Houston center noted it treats more than 17,000 native wild animals a year.
- The cases illustrate ongoing human threats to large birds, such as vehicle strikes and electrocution, and they sit within the larger recovery story of the species after mid‑20th‑century declines, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimating over 316,000 bald eagles in the U.S. by 2019.