‘Miracle’ eagle with broken wing spotted flying over Scottish coast

Kinky, the Isle of Mull’s “miracle eagle,” is back in the skies above Scotland’s west coast, his crooked wing still clearly visible after a severe break suffered as a chick.

The male sea eagle fell from his nest during a storm in 2023. Experts monitoring Mull’s population did not expect him to survive, but a recent photograph shows him flying over Loch Spelve on the island’s south-east coast.

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incredible

The bird received his affectionate nickname because the bone in his injured wing healed at an angle. His parents continued tending to him well beyond the usual period of care, in what the RSPB described as an unprecedented display of extended parenting. The pair even skipped a year’s breeding season to look after their year-old offspring.

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I'm in awe of this bird!

Retired RSPB officer Dave Sexton, who has worked with Mull’s sea eagles for more than two decades, called the sighting “incredible” and said, “I'm in awe of this bird!” He warned that Kinky may now face a more difficult stage of life. Established adult pairs may no longer tolerate him as an immature bird, and their territorial behavior can be severe. “But Kinky's a born survivor; I'm keeping everything crossed for him,” Sexton said.

Sea eagles, also known as white-tailed eagles, were hunted to extinction in the United Kingdom. The last native bird was shot in Shetland in 1918, according to the RSPB. A Scottish reintroduction project began in 1975, and the species later became established as a self-sustaining population. The birds returned to Mull in the 1980s.

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But Kinky's a born survivor; I'm keeping everything crossed for him