The state Game Commission is investigating how an osprey was fatally injured this week in rural Indiana County, north of Blairsville.
Game commission Officer Chris Reidmiller said the eagle-like hawk was discovered Tuesday by area residents in a farm field in Blacklick Township with a severe injury to one of its legs. It’s injuries were so severe it could not fly, he said.
“We took it to a veterinarian in Youngwood (Wildlife Works Inc.) but, unfortunately, the fracture was so severe they had to put it down Wednesday. Right now, we’re trying to determine exactly how the injury occurred … and whether it may have been shot is one of the possibilities,” Reidmiller said.
Reidmiller said one area resident reported seeing the osprey flying in the area Monday night.
“When I initially got the call, people thought it was a bald eagle,” he said.
Ospreys weigh 3-to-4 pounds and grow between 21 inches and 32 inches in length. They are fish-eating birds of prey, but Reidmiller said the area where it was found in Black Lick is not a typical area where someone would see one.
“They are migrating north right now, so it may not even have been from around here and may have been heading somewhere further north. It was 3-to-5 miles north of the Conemaugh River,” Reidmiller said.
The incident is still under investigation and Reidmiller said anyone with information can call the Southwest Region Office of the game commission in Bolivar at 724-238-9523.
