It was also clearly weak.
The right wing produced a shallower downstroke than the left, and the bird lost height before reaching the perch. It landed earlier than expected and rested for several minutes afterward.
Nobody regarded that as failure.
The eagle had spent its last morning in the wild trying desperately to leave the ground.
Now it had flown again.
The question was whether that flight could become strong enough for survival.
Over the following days, the bird began moving more frequently between perches.
The rehabilitation staff avoided chasing it simply to create exercise. Voluntary movement gave them more useful information about natural mechanics and reduced unnecessary stress.
Each short flight became part of the assessment.
Was takeoff symmetrical?
Did the right wing reach full extension?
Could the eagle climb?
Did it favor one direction while turning?
How well did it land?
Did the injured side begin to droop after repeated activity?
At first, fatigue remained obvious.
The eagle could fly once reasonably well.
After several attempts, the right wing lost power.
That was enough to keep the bird in care.
A Bald Eagle in the wild may need to fly repeatedly in a short period. It may have to move between feeding sites, climb against wind, cross open water, escape another raptor, or recover from a poor landing. A wing that performs only when completely rested is not a functional wild wing.
The bird needed endurance.
After the shoulder tolerated several days of controlled short flights without renewed swelling, Holloway approved transfer to the center’s large outdoor flight aviary.
This was the most important phase of rehabilitation.
The aviary was long enough for sustained flight and high enough for climbing. Multiple perches allowed assessment of turns, approach angles, landings, and repeated takeoffs.
The eagle entered the aviary on a quiet morning.
For nearly two hours, it remained perched.
Then, without anyone forcing the movement, the bird launched.
The first full flight began well.
The eagle crossed about half the aviary with both wings working together. Then the right side began to lose power. The bird descended and landed on a lower perch.
The landing was safe.
The weakness was obvious.
The staff recorded the flight.
That was exactly what the aviary was designed to reveal.
A bird should demonstrate its limitations during rehabilitation, not after release.
The eagle rested.
Later that day, it flew again.
The second attempt was shorter.
The rehabilitation plan remained unchanged.
More time.
More healing.
More conditioning.
During the following week, the eagle began using more of the aviary. Takeoff strength improved first. The bird launched more vertically rather than skimming low across the floor.
Then the turns improved.
The eagle began banking in both directions instead of flying straight from one perch to another.
Landings became cleaner.
Early in rehabilitation, the bird approached perches with several corrective wingbeats. Later, it extended both feet at the correct moment, gripped, and folded its wings without obvious instability.
The right side still tired after repeated effort.
Release remained inappropriate.
The staff continued watching for post-exercise problems.
A wing that looks normal during flight may reveal weakness afterward. The team checked whether the shoulder drooped, whether the old wound area swelled, whether the eagle became reluctant to stretch, and whether it avoided flying after a demanding session.
Gradually, those concerns diminished.
Week by week, the right wing maintained power for longer.
The eagle began crossing the full length of the aviary.
Then it began returning without landing.
One afternoon, the bird launched from a high perch, flew the length of the enclosure, turned near the far end, and came back toward the starting side before landing.
The flight was controlled.
The wingbeats were nearly symmetrical.
There was no obvious loss of height.
After several minutes, the bird did it again.
For the first time, the rehabilitation team saw not just a bird capable of flight, but a bird beginning to fly like an adult Bald Eagle again.
The shoulder continued tolerating exercise.
No new swelling appeared.
The scar tissue remained flexible enough to permit full extension.
The bird’s body condition improved as well. Time in care had restored the weight lost during the period of injury and reduced feeding.
The feathers around the original wound still looked somewhat rough.
That was expected.
A few damaged feathers did not necessarily prevent release if the major flight feathers remained functional and the bird could perform normally.
The standard was not cosmetic perfection.
The standard was survival.
The eagle’s behavior also remained important.
It avoided people consistently.
When staff entered the aviary, the bird moved away.
It did not wait near the door for food.
It showed no sign of becoming habituated to human presence.
This mattered because an adult eagle released with excessive comfort around people can face additional risks.
The center wanted the bird to leave as wild as it had arrived.
Several weeks into flight conditioning, the staff performed a more demanding endurance assessment through repeated observation rather than forced pursuit.
The eagle voluntarily completed multiple flights across the aviary in succession.
It climbed.
It turned.
It landed.
It launched again.
The right wing maintained the same extension as the left.
Afterward, both sides folded evenly against the body.
The breathing returned to normal appropriately.
No shoulder droop developed.
Those were the signs Holloway had been waiting for.
A final veterinary examination was scheduled.