Dollywood Bald Eagles

Live from the 'Pick-A-Mate' enclosure at Dollywood's Eagle Mountain Sanctuary

In Partnership with the American Eagle Foundation • Powered by HDOnTap

 

The largest enclosure at Dollywood's Eagle Mountain Sanctuary is called the ‘Pick a Mate’ section. It is the home of eligible bachelor and bachelorettes Eagles—all with physical disabilities but with at least partial flight ability. Many of our Bald Eagle breeding pairs throughout the years have resulted from two Eagles from this section choosing each other as mates, at which point they are given their own private enclosure with the hope that they will reproduce and raise Eaglets that will be released into the wild.

 

Introducing the Pick-A-Mate Bald Eagles! 

 

Barbosa

Born: Unknown

Gender: Unknown

Ankle Band #: SB (Orange)

Origin: Treasure Coast Wildlife (Florida)

Story:

In March 2012, Barbosa was treated for an injury to the right wing tip and a damaged right eye (blind). Barbosa was transferred to AEF from Treasure Coast Wildlife in Florida in August 2016.

 

Faithful

Born: 1984

Gender: Male

Ankle Band #: RS (Orange)

Origin: San Francisco, California

Story:

Faithful was bonded to another non-releasable pair of Bald Eagle named Peace and they both lived in a large private aviary at the American Eagle Foundation. They hatched and raised numerous young as a part of the AEF’s Captive Breeding and Hacking programs.

Unfortunately, Peace passed away in 2016. Faithful was moved to Pick-a-Mate to reside with our other non-releasable Bald Eagles.

This pair was already bonded when they were transferred to the American Eagle Foundation from the San Francisco Zoo in 2007. In a ceremony honoring fallen soldiers, these two Eagles, along with three other non-releasable Bald Eagle breeding pairs were named by the families of these brave soldiers.

Peace was named in honor Sgt. Alfred Siler. Faithful was named in honor of Cpl. Rusty Washam.

In 2007, the American Eagle Foundation was chosen by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to receive four Bald Eagle breeding pairs from the San Francisco Zoo to care, originally it was to be five pairs, however one mate passed away prior to the transfer. The living mate of the pair is now a educational eagle.

These pairs were part of the San Francisco Zoo’s captive-breeding program. These regal birds had previously hatched numerous young eaglets, which were placed in wild nests located on the Channel Islands—as part of a Bald Eagle recovery project located off the coast of Los Angeles. The zoo concluded its successful breeding program after re-introducing more than 100 young Bald Eagles into the wild.

Accompanied by AEF President Al Cecere and Julia Cecere, the Eagle pairs flew over America—from San Francisco to Knoxville—on the wings of a special FedEx cargo jet on June 18 and 19 2007. After a physical check-up by University of Tennessee veterinarians, these eagles were placed into their new aviary homes in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

 

Hamilton

Born: Unknown

Gender: Male

Disability: Left Wing Injury as a result of possible gunshot wound

Ankle Band #: RE (Orange)

Origin: Hamblen County, TN

Story:

Hamilton came to the AEF as an adult Bald Eagle. He was brought to the University of Tennessee Avian and Zoological Medicine on March 28th 2013 after being found in Hamblen County, TN. Physical examination and radiographs revealed a chronic fracture of the left ulna with some involvement of the elbow joint. Four pellets were noted within the body suggesting that the eagle may have been a gunshot victim. The Eagle was transferred to the American Eagle Foundation the following day, and then returned to UT on 24 May 2013 for reevaluation of the left wing and elbow joint, which appeared swollen. The joint contained a significant amount of fluid, some of which was aspirated and submitted for culture. The Eagle received medications for pain relief and antibiotics pending culture results, and returned again on 10 October 2013 for evaluation of the left wing. Again fluid was present within the joint. Radiographs confirmed swelling of the joint but also indicated damage to the radial and humeral bones at the joint and degenerative joint disease of the elbow. Repeat culture of the joint fluid did not reveal any bacteria. Subsequent to the recheck examination the joint appeared to be less swollen. Although Hamilton can fly, the chronic nature and severity of his joint disease made him an extremely poor candidate for release with any reasonable expectation that he would survive, thus he was placed permanently into his new home!

 

Kathy

Born: Unknown

Gender: Female

Disability: Injury to Left Patagium (limited range of motion)

Ankle Band #: PU (Orange)

Origin: Wildlife Center of Virginia

Story:

Kathy was admitted to the Wildlife Center as an adult on February 9th, 2007. On initial presentation, the bird had a large open laceration on the left patagium; the membrane on the leading edge of the wing. The wound healed, however, as a result of the injury the patagial ligament has constricted thus restricting full range of motion on the left wing. She was transferred to the American Eagle Foundation to live in her new home at Eagle Mountain Sanctuary. She recovered well and, despite her limited flight ability, is very strong and feisty!

 

King George

Born: Unknown

Gender: Male

Disability: Left Wing-tip Injury

Ankle Band #: RX (Orange)

Origin:  Wildlife Center of Virginia

Story:

King George came to us in September 2015 as an adult from Wildlife Center of Virginia. He was found injured on August 2nd, 2013 in King George County, Virginia. Due to a traumatic event, his left wing tip was partially amputated, resulting in impaired flight ability.

 

Mr. Roosevelt (“Roo”)

Born: Unknown

Gender: Male

Disability: Injuries to left foot and elbow.

Ankle Band #: RB (Orange)

Origin: Arkansas

Story:

Mr. Roosevelt was presented to the American Eagle Foundation and subsequently to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center on June 2, 2011 for evaluation. Mr. Roosevelt originated in Arkansas and the rehabilitator there believed that the Eagle was non-releasable. The veterinarian’s examination revealed injuries to the left foot, wrist and elbow. Injuries to the foot and wrist were resolved, but the elbow became a chronic problem. Mr. Roosevelt was treated several times with antibiotics and the joint improved; however, it became apparent that Mr. Roosevelt wouldn’t be able to fly well enough to be released back into the wild and was transferred to American Eagle Foundation November 2011.

He was placed in the PAM section and bonded with Eleanor. In 2016, the American Eagle Foundation found two eggs that were laid on the ground in Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, and the eggs were taken to the American Eagle Foundation’s incubation room. One eaglet hatched but unfortunately didn’t make it past its second week.

Later that year, the pair was moved into its own breeding enclosure with its own manmade nest in order to properly mate and raise young!

In 2017, the pair successfully hatched and raised two eaglets! They became the stars of the Dollywood Eagle Cams project, impressing thousands of viewers with their impressive first-time parenting skills.

Sadly on Jan. 17, 2018, Eleanor (Ellie) was found deceased from unknown causes in the aviary, and Mr. Roosevelt was placed back in PAM in hopes he will find another mate.

 

 

For more information about the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary click here. 

 

 

These community guidelines will provide a practical and ethical guide for using HDOnTap.com as well as set forth HDOnTap's official policies on acceptable community behavior and community rules. Guidelines may be updated from time to time. By reading, posting and participating in the HDOnTap community, you agree to abide by these community guidelines.

Comments on the HDOnTap.com website are facilitated through Spot.IM - user support for Spot.IM is available by emailing support@spot.im and is not directly provided by HDOnTap. Users are required, to create a Spot.IM account in order to post comments. Posts that fail automatic moderation (see more on this below) are subject to moderator review prior to being posted and may be subject to up to a two-day delay.

General Rules and Guidelines

• Keep your comments focused on the topic at hand.
• Be polite and remember the "Golden Rule".
• No spamming, baiting or trolling.
• Limit personal information.
• Comments can be removed at the discretion of the moderators.
• Users can be banned at the discretion of the moderators.

Publishing Guidelines

You may only have one account per person. Multiple accounts for the same person will be removed and the originating IP Address may be blacklisted.

Please keep posts on topic. With regard to nest cams specifically, information on other nests may be limited or removed, especially when the featured nest is active. This is to limit confusion for community members and is at the sole discretion of HDOnTap staff and Live Cam Ambassadors.

Content that falls under the following is subject to immediate removal and potential user ban. Please note that this list is not exclusive and all moderation is at the ultimate discretion of HDOnTap.

• Profane, defamatory, offensive or violent language
• Trolling, impersonation or posting deliberately disruptive statements meant to hijack comment threads or throw discussions off track
• Attacks on specific groups or any comments meant to harass, threaten or abuse an individual
• Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion,  gender, disability, sexual orientation or political beliefs
• Links or comments containing sexually explicit content
• Spam or link baiting
• Acknowledgment of intent to stalk an individual, or collect or publish private information without disclosure
• Commercial solicitations
• Violations of copyright or intellectual property rights
• Content that relates to confidential  or proprietary business information
• Content determined to be inappropriate, in poor taste, or otherwise contrary to the purposes of this community

Banned users who attempt to circumvent their ban status may be subject to a complete IP ban and inability to access the HDOnTap website. Additionally, non-banned users are prohibited from posting on a banned user's behalf, and are subject to ban as a result.

On occasion, legitimate posts may fail automatic moderation and be marked as "Spam". When this occurs, the post will not be visible until it is manually moderated (subject to a 2-day delay). Users are encouraged to consider the following best practices to avoid the moderation queue:

• Avoid posting in all caps or with excessive capitalization
• Avoid posting with excessive punctuation
• Avoid rapid, repetetive posts of a similar or identical nature

Moderators and Moderation

HDOnTap.com is moderated by HDOnTap staff as well as appointed Live Cam Ambassadors. All moderators will be identified as such next to their display name. 

Moderators will use their best judgment to apply these guidelines in a fair way and moderate activities appropriately to ensure the overall health of the HDOnTap community. Moderators may not have the time or inclination to explain their moderation decisions and are under no obligations to do so. Any activity, comments, posts or other interaction that you may have with this community may be moderated, with or without explanation. Moderators have the final decision on what is and isn't acceptable use of this community.

Community members may also flag posts if they believe something may be in violation of our Community Guidelines. Once a post has been flagged, it will be reviewed by the moderation team. If a post has received multiple flags, it may be temporarily removed from the comments stream pending review.

Advertising, self-promotion and repeated posts of the same content - even a well thought out comment - are all considered spam and are subject to removal.

If you are not sure if something you want to post will breach community guidelines or in the event that you have a disagreement with a moderator, please contact info@hdontap.com. Please note that response to inquiries of this kind are at the discretion of HDOnTap.

Last Edited on 2018-3-10

Issues with Live Streaming

• We're sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue! Please follow our troubleshooting tips for buffering or other stream issues.

• If your issue is not resolved by following the troubleshooting tips above, please click here to submit a speed test and support ticket.

Issues with commenting/Spot.IM

• Get support for issues with comments (including log in issues) by emailing support@spot.im.

• Report an issue with another viewer by hovering over their post and clicking the down-arrow on the right, then selecting "Report". You may also report by creating a comment and tagging "@hdontap" to notify us directly.

Viewer Feedback

• We greatly value feedback from our viewers! We encourage you to fill out our Viewer Feedback Form to help us deliver the best viewing experience.