A 57-year-old man faces charges on three violations of New York Environmental Conservation Law after the New York State DEC says Donald N. Mix shot an adult bald eagle in the Town of Caroline.

A DEC spokesperson tells 14850 Today that environmental conservation officer Ozzie Eisenberg responded to a complaint on Saturday after an area resident “heard a shot close to her residence and then spotted a large bird flopping around in a nearby field.”

Eisenberg located a deceased adult bald eagle at the scene, and “a subsequent interview with a neighbor revealed that the man had placed deer carcasses in the field to shoot coyotes and turkey vultures, another protected species.”

According to the complainant, the nearby resident found the eagle “still breathing slowly,” and was with the bird as it died while she awaited the DEC officer’s arrival.

The DEC says Mix “thought the bird was a turkey vulture and was unaware that he had killed a threatened bald eagle.” The man is due to return to Town of Caroline Court on January 22nd, 2019.

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