The animal care committee of the Yukon Wildlife Preserve has put off a decision on whether to euthanize an eaglet that suffered a serious wing injury when its nest fell to the ground.

Maria Hallock, the preserve’s director of animal care, explained Thursday the committee met Wednesday.

Members decided to wait a few weeks to make another assessment of how the month-old bald eagle is doing in its recovery from surgery.

Meanwhile, the wildlife preserve has received three woodpecker chicks from an Annie Lake Road resident. He brought them because the adult male and female both died after crashing into a window at his home.

Hallock said the man had put stuff on his window to mark the otherwise clear glass to try to ensure birds could see there was a surface there.

Nonetheless, they both crashed into it the same evening and died, she said.

Hallock said the man then cut down the tree where the American three-toed woodpeckers were nesting. He brought the section of tree containing the nest to the wildlife preserve.

“They weren’t harmed at all,” she said.

Hallock said she expects the chicks will be released to the wild in about six weeks.

Once they learn to fly, they’ll be put into a larger enclosure. Staff will also train them to retrieve worms from holes in trees and other means of foraging for themselves, she said.

“They need to know food does not come on a dish.”

The chicks, born in the last couple of weeks, still hadn’t opened their eyes Thursday morning.

But by yesterday afternoon, they were open as Hallock slowly fed them meal worms.

Hallock said she expects the healthy eaglet to be released toward the end of August.

The injured eaglet underwent surgery at a local veterinary clinic on Monday. That was the day after it had been rescued by local wildlife photographers Gerry Mussgnug and Ron Dionne, and conservation officer Tynan Thurmer.

Hallock explained earlier this week the eaglet suffered multiple fractures to its right wing from the fall.

The wing is in a cast, but it’s 100 per cent certain the eaglet will never fly again. It may not even be able to lift its wing, which would mean amputation and a poor quality of life, she said.

Hallock said Thursday the preserve’s animal care committee decided to see how far healing has progressed when the cast comes off in a few more weeks. Having both eaglets share each other’s company in the meantime is a good thing, she said.

Hallock said she’s also sent x-rays of the eaglet’s injured wing to the veterinary hospital at the University of Saskatchewan to get a second opinion.

The hospital has a team of avian specialists, she pointed out.