On March 14, 2016 the Waldo County Dispatch Center received a report of an accident on Route 3 in Belmont involving a 2010 Peterbilt tractor trailer and a bald eagle.

Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy Merl Reed responded and spoke with the driver of the truck and a female, who had observed the accident.

According to the news release, the woman said she had seen two bald eagles chasing each other while losing altitude. One of the eagles came close to the ground and flew into the passenger side windshield of a passing tractor trailer. The truck’s driver was caught off guard and had no time to react to avoid the collision, the report said.

The impact killed the eagle, which was turned over to a representative of Avian Haven, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Freedom, and which is permitted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to possess wild and endangered birds.