Dolly Parton visited the woods overlooking Douglas Lake near the Great Smoky Mountains in designer buckskins and 4-inch heels. But she knew she wasn't the star of this show. It was a young American bald eagle.

The eagle was blown from its nest several weeks ago in Florida. On Thursday, it was returned to the wild by the American Eagle Foundation, which is based at the 62-year-old singer's Dollywood theme park.

Some 90 eagles have been released from the same spot since the 1990s. But this marked the first time that their country music benefactor had seen it in person.

Before she helped open the cage and watched the bird soar away, Parton named it "Liberty."

"I thought that sounded better than Baldy," she said.