MARION TWP — A red-tailed hawk unable to fly and found walking on the side of the road Tuesday night was too ill to survive, authorities said.

A Pennsylvania Game Commission officer had to euthanize the bird at the scene on Cemetery Road about one-half mile west of Route 308 in Marion Township.

A couple of passers-by shortly before 8 p.m. saw the troubled bird, which they initially mistook for a bald eagle, and notified 911.

The couple also believed the bird was injured. But apparently that wasn't the case either, said Jason Amory, a wildlife conservation officer for the game commission.

An examination of the hawk, a juvenile, found no apparent injury to its head, wings or body, which could indicate it was hit by a vehicle.

“But it was acting lethargic,” Amory said, “and was not responsive.”

The game commission officer was called in after a Marion Township Volunteer Fire Company crew got there and realized a wildlife expert was needed.

A dead giveaway that the bird was ill, Amory noted, was the ease in which he was able to grab it just a few feet off the road. It didn't even try to nip at him.

It was “gaping,” too, meaning its mouth was open, another sign it was in distress.

Because of the hawk's appearance, Amory said he had little choice but to euthanize it.

“It was pretty far gone,” he said.

Amory speculated that the hawk possibly was suffering from West Nile virus, a bird disease of which raptors — like the red-tailed hawk — are particularly susceptible.