Male Eaglet possible eye injury

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Male Eaglet possible eye injury

NewMexiKen
Administrator
Phil Martin has lately been concerned that the male eaglet may have an injury or problem with his right eye.

On July 23 Phil wrote:

I was at the nest at 10:50 today.  I observed the male Eaglet perched on the tree at 208th Avenue.  He appears to continue to have problems with his right eye.  He did not open it the entire times I was there.  This does not appear to be his nictitating  membrane.  It rained the entire time I was there, approximately 1/2 hour and the light was very poor.

Phil's photo:


 
I visited the nest area the next day (July 24) and located the male eaglet high in a pine at the south gated end of 198th, on the west side of the road.

I only obtained two views of his right eye. In this  one, indeed his nictitating membrane (transparent or translucent third eyelid) is closed:



A split second later, my camera caught the eye open, best seen in this cropped image. It does not appear to be normal, as it is partially closed and there is redness:



However in another face-on view, the right eye appears to be fully open and it reflects some light: