The eagle, who with its mate had built a nest near suburban Mequon, Wis., was found dead Sunday about 20 feet from its nesting tree on the Lake Michigan shoreline, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

Wildlife officials said the eagle would be taken to a laboratory in Madison, Wis., for a necropsy, where it will be checked for wounds and tested for toxins, the newspaper said.

An official of the land conservancy where the nest was located reported there were no obvious signs of a gunshot wound or other trauma on the bird. Wildlife officials told the Journal-Sentinel the pair had successfully hatched single eaglets in 2007 as well as this year.