Found a picture....
No bill for bird's new beak
Last Updated: Friday, August 16, 2002 | 12:26 PM ET
A Canadian dentist has become something of a hero on Vancouver Island for making an artificial beak for a bald eagle that had been shot in the face and left for dead.
In fact, the eagle has been named "Brian" after Dr. Brian Andrews, a former air force dentist who led a team that spent two months designing and fabricating the new beak, even colouring it the proper shade of yellow.
Andrews used prosthetic techniques to make the beak, much as one would prepare a protective mouthpiece for a hockey player. The challenge was to find a healthy bald eagle and use its beak to make a dental impression.
Someone managed to capture a healthy bald eagle with a salmon net. Andrews says the stand-in eagle turned out to be a "very co-operative" subject, allowing itself to be held upside-down until the impression was completed.
Luckily, the wounded bald eagle was found the day it was shot, otherwise it never would have survived the ordeal.
"The whole top of his beak was shot away, right to the top of his forehead," Andrews said. He said the wound was caused by a high-speed rifle bullet.
Andrews told the CBC Radio's As It Happens Thursday that if regular dental fees were charged the operation easily would have cost about $1,000. He didn't charge a penny, though, saying, "It was a nice way to help out."
Brian the bald eagle now tears up salmon for meals in the wildlife preserve where he is recuperating on Vancouver Island. The big question is when, or if, the eagle ever will be released to the wild.
He almost had a perfect 2 weeks with Chase until Friday, then he ripped up his hand pretty good...and I didn't dare touch him yesterday when I got home, WAY too excited...
