The American bald eagle's lovingly given nickname doesn't exactly fit the image of such a majestic creature.
But it sure is accurate.
Valerie Ackerman affectionately refers to the bald eagle rescued from the grill of a CSX train Wednesday evening as "Hood Ornament."
The eagle is alive and alert at the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia in Falls Church, undergoing tests to determine the extent of its injuries and its prognosis.
"I'm just tickled that everything fell into place like it did," said Ackerman, a wildlife rehabilitator. "He's just a miracle bird."
Surviving impactNo one is sure exactly when it happened.
But in the late afternoon on Wednesday, somewhere in the 17-mile stretch of railroad tracks between Milford and Woodford in Caroline County, a CSX train struck the bald eagle.
The conductor of the northbound train didn't realize anything had happened, but a conductor on a train traveling in the opposite direction saw the eagle trapped against the front of the train and radioed CSX dispatchers.
They notified the train's conductor and the Fredericksburg police, and the train stopped at the station downtown.
The eagle was still alive.
'Riding on miracles'Ackerman, sick with the flu, was about to get into the shower at her Todds Tavern home, but heard the message a Fredericksburg police dispatcher was leaving on her answering machine.
She left immediately.
She got a message on her way to Fredericksburg that the bird had been freed from the front of the train and was at the Fredericksburg police station.
She had no idea what to expect.
"I imagined a bird that was basically broken into pieces," she said.
Stressed eagles dehydrate quickly, then go into shock, Ackerman said. After that, there's often little that can be done to save them.
On her way to Fredericksburg, Ackerman spoke to to Kaylee Charlton, another Spotsylvania rehabilitator. Charlton has a license to treat the federally protected birds.
"It was a miracle she answered the phone," Ackerman said.
If the eagle lived until Ackerman arrived in Fredericksburg, she had two options. One was to make the short drive to Charlton, who would try to rehydrate and stabilize the bird. If the eagle was in less critical condition, she might be able to get it to Kent Knowles at the Raptor Center of Virginia in Falls Church.
Knowles also answered his phone on this day before Thanksgiving, and got in touch with one of his transport drivers. She began making her way south in case the eagle was well enough to travel.
"This bird was riding on a lot of miracles here," Ackerman said. "First the engineer who reported it, the police department, me, Kaylee, and now Kent and his driver. By the time I got to Fredericksburg, I had all these options in my hand."
Alive and alertWhat Ackerman found when she arrived in Fredericksburg was another miracle. The injured bird, which had ridden dozens of miles on the front of a speeding train, was not only alive, but alert.
"I looked him in the eye, and he told me he wanted to go for a ride," she said. "Sometimes you can tell just by looking them in the eye whether they're going to make it or not."
Ackerman had a good feeling about Hood Ornament.
"I wrapped him up, stabilized him for transport, and hit the road," she said. "The call came in to the police at 4:29, and I had that bird in my arms and out of the police department by 5:30."
She met Knowles' transport driver in Occoquan.
When she returned home, Ackerman called Knowles. He'd been unable to find any obvious broken bones, but the bird was dehydrated and stressed.
"On Thanksgiving Day, the bird wasn't standing," Ackerman said, "but that's not unusual for a bird who's taken a ride on the front of a train."
Road to rehabilitationThe Raptor Conservancy rehabilitates injured birds and releases them, conducts education programs and aims to increase the wild population of endangered and threatened species. In 2004, the conservancy's volunteers took in more than 205 raptors for treatment, according to its Web site.
Yesterday, Knowles was still conducting tests on Hood Ornament.
The bird is an adult--at least 5 years old. Eagles don't develop their signature white heads and tail features until they are about 5, and this bird has all its white feathers.
Knowles rehydrated the bird and fed it.
"It was in such rocky shape when it came in. It was totally stressed out," he said. "But you can't ride 20 or so miles as a hood ornament without getting out of sorts."
He expected to be able to do X-rays and an exam sometime yesterday, after the bird was more stable.
He planned to weigh the bird to determine its gender. Female eagles are larger than males.
The main concern was that the eagle still wasn't standing yesterday. It could use its feet, but not stand on them.
"That's often a sign of lower-spinal trauma," Knowles said, "which, given the situation, would not be surprising."
Knowles said he planned to talk to Jeff Cooper, a wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and coordinator of the state's eagle management and monitoring program. If the eagle needs long-term rehabilitation, Cooper will make the call about where Hood Ornament will go.
Under federal law, licensed rehabilitators can render short-term first aid. But seriously ill or injured birds requiring surgery are sent to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro.
Regardless of what happens, Ackerman said, the eagle's story is a beautiful one, because so many people came together, on such short notice, to help an injured bird.
"It doesn't always happen like that. I've been doing this for eight years. When you hold a bird like that in your arms, preferably with your Kevlar gloves on," she said with a laugh, " it makes all the difference."
ON THE NET: raptorsva.org
To reach LAURA L. HUTCHISON:
Email: lhutchison@freelancestar.com