What's Killing the Eagles?

13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland

Federal officials are investigating the death of 13 bald eagles.

The Baltimore Sun reports investigators were called to a farm in Federalsburg, Md. Saturday afternoon after a man discovered some of the birds.

Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson says the man was looking for shed deer antlers when he noticed four dead bald eagles. Thomson says officers went on to search the grounds and discovered an additional nine dead eagles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now investigating the situation.

Officials have not said if the eagles were killed intentionally. Additional information has not been provided.

That's a whole lot of eagles. I would suspect some form of attractive poisoning if there is no evidence of violence. Hopefully it's not deliberate, and they can identify it and stop it. This time of year, without Ospreys to steal from, Bald Eagles are forced to fish for themselves, or more often eat carrion, and are more vulnerable to environmental and human poisons.