Expert 'Completely Baffled' by Bald Eagle Deaths

Is somebody deliberately poisoning bald eagles in the mid-Atlantic states? Experts are still trying to find out what happened last month in Maryland, where 13 of the birds were found dead last month, and in Delaware, where five more were found dead last weekend. Mike Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy, tells NBC News that he's "completely baffled" by the deaths. "I can't see any possible explanation of any sort why anyone would deliberately do something like that. It's outrageous," he says. The group is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to anybody who contributed to the eagle deaths.

Federal authorities say "human causes" were behind the Maryland deaths, while test results are still pending in the Delaware deaths. Another three birds found alive but sickened in the latter state were taken to Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark, which deals with dozens of sick bald eagles every year, the News Journal reports. Bill Stewart, the president of the Delmarva Ornithological Society, says deliberate or accidental poisoning could explain what happened to the eagles. The public has been urged to report any apparently sick eagles they might see. (In happier bald eagle news, a livecam in Washington, DC, captured a baby emerging from its shell.)