Sad news for all the fans of Auburn football Monday as War Eagle VII, named Nova, will miss the entire 2017 season after it was discovered the bird is suffering from a heart disease called cardiomyopathy.

In place of Nova, Auburn will use a bald eagle named Spirit for the 2017 football season. The announcement was made by the school Monday morning. Avian veterinarian Dr. Seth Oster gave the following comments in regards to Nova’s condition to the university’s official website.

“Nova has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, indicated by an enlarged left ventricle, decreased systolic function and supraventricular premature complexes (arrhythmia),” said Dr. Seth Oster. “These areas of constriction can increase the systolic pressure of the heart so that Nova’s heart has to pump harder to move blood around his body. This type of problem could have multiple causes, the most common of which in birds is atherosclerosis.”

Nova was hatched in 1999 and has served as the eighth War Eagle in Auburn’s history since 2006, although he did fly for the school starting in 2004.

Auburn opens the season in Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday, Sept. 2, against Georgia Southern.