Thanks to Audubon Society of Portland for sending along this new photo of a bald eagle taking flight shortly after rehabilitators released it near Longview, Wash.
The mature eagle was treated for months at Audubon's Wildlife Care Center before Friday's release. Blood tests and X-rays indicted it suffered from lead poisoning, a common problem for raptors in the Pacific Northwest.
Typically, according to wildlife experts, birds are poisoned when they ingest animals shot with lead ammunition or feed on gut piles left behind by hunters using lead ammunition. Most lead-poisoned birds die in the wild, becoming food for other animals and spreading lead toxicity through the food chain.
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