NYPD officers who helped rescue injured bald eagle on Hudson River speak out

(NEW YORK) — While surveying ice during a training exercise on the Hudson River on Tuesday, a New York City police officer with the department’s Harbor Unit spotted something unusual.

“Last week, when it was cold, a lot of stuff was getting stuck in the ice, whether it was a float, a buoy, but it looked different,” Officer Michael Russo told reporters on Wednesday. “I could see this white head from a distance. So I said, let’s get a little closer. I said, it looks like an eagle. And turns out it was an American bald eagle.”

Russo, a 16-year veteran of the NYPD’s Harbor Unit, said officers have rescued distressed boaters, sick cruise ship passengers and animals such as dogs while patrolling the city’s waterways. Though a bald eagle was a first.

The injured bird was screeching, wet and bloody, and as the boat approached, it didn’t leave the ice it was floating on, officers said.

Officers said they consulted with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to see if they should retrieve the bird, and once given the go-ahead, looked up how to safely do that.

“As we got closer, we put a plan together,” Russo said. “We used a catch noose to kind of subdue its wings from flapping and its claws.” 

Another officer, Sgt. Michael Amello, then put a cloth over the bird’s head, to help keep it calm, and got it on board the boat.

“Once we did that, it really didn’t give us a hard time,” Russo said. “I think it kind of knew that we were trying to help it.”

The officers were worried about the bird’s large talons throughout the rescue.

“They don’t really train you for, you know, handling a bald eagle, but we made it work,” Amello told reporters. “It was impressive and kind of scary at the same time, being that close to a bald eagle. The talons were pretty long. But it came on, didn’t put up much of a fight. It was compliant.”

The officers kept the bird on board until they were able to meet with personnel from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. 

“It’s an impressive creature. Even in its state, we were kind of taken back by how big it is and just the way it is, and the beauty of it,” Det. Nicholas Martin with the NYPD Harbor Unit told reporters. “It was impressive, to say the least.”

The bald eagle has since been brought to a sanctuary in New Jersey and was reported to be in stable condition, officers said.

The Raptor Trust, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Millington, New Jersey, said Wednesday that the bird is in their care and is “currently in very serious condition.”

“We are doing our best to keep the bird stable, and should it improve, we will do further diagnostics, x-rays and blood work to help determine a course of action going forward,” the center said in a statement.