An immature eagle that splashed into the Chilkat River during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival is an example of the “unpredictability” of bird rehabilitation, said a representative of the Juneau Raptor Center.
“We never know how a release is going to go,” said Janet Capito, president of the center’s board of directors. “Sometimes, we do our best to get the bird prepared, and the bird, for whatever reason, won’t fly away. There’s no way to really say anything about the future, because every release is different.”
“Baby,” a bald eagle found in July after it fell from a nest in Juneau, was released Nov. 13 in a 21 Mile ceremony as part of the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. Scot Tiernan, a volunteer with the Juneau Raptor Center, let the bird go, but it plunged into the water.
The eagle was recaptured Nov. 15 after several people expressed concern about its chances of survival.
Cheryl McRoberts, operations manager of the American Bald Eagle Foundation (ABEF), said Baby had four broken flight feathers, and she thought the bird had been damaged in transport before the release.
“The feathers are broken, and you can’t just pluck them out and make them grow back,” McRoberts said. “They have to actually molt out and then grow new ones in order for it to fly, so that won’t be until spring.”
The eagle has since been relocated to a flight mew at Juneau Raptor Center, Capito said. She said the bird would continue to be evaluated.
“Some birds do well right off the bat and it’s a fast turnaround, and others don’t,” Capito said. “… Some cannot be rehabilitated, we do have to euthanize some, and we also try to place some that obviously can’t fly anymore, but are in good shape and with their injuries, they can be placed.”
She noted the center also coordinates public eagle releases in Juneau.
McRoberts said representatives of ABEF are “not sure at this point” if an eagle release will be on the schedule for the 2011 festival.
“We would like to continue to do the eagle releases,” she said.
ABEF is “not allowed to release eagles” and is “not a rehabilitation center,” McRoberts said.
Even if a release is planned, the event also depends on the availability of eagles from the raptor centers that are permitted to participate. There was no release last year, due to lack of an eagle.
McRoberts said Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage has been another source of eagles for release.
“They just happened to not have any this year,” she said. “We just got an eagle from them that’s going to live here permanently … It’s not right to hold the bird longer than need be just so we can have a bird for the eagle release. It’s not fair to the bird.”
McRoberts said ABEF would be at capacity following the arrival of a red-tailed hawk from Sitka. She said an expanded eagle enclosure should be finished in the spring, since some of the work for the wall coverings will require exterior temperatures above 55 degrees.