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Soaring Toward New Heights in Rehabilitation
The first several bald eagles flight-conditioned in the Alaska Raptor
Center's new Suzanne and Walter Scott Bald Eagle Flight-Training
Center have been released successfully back to the wild, and several
more are undergoing rehabilitation now. The new flight-training center
is up and running, providing critical flight conditioning spaces for
bald eagles, as well as offering outstanding opportunities for visitors
to watch the birds regaining their flight abilities, without the birds' seeing
or hearing people.
Through a specially designed viewing corridor, visitors as well as rehabilitators
are able to see eagles flying from tree to tree, swooping down to pluck
a salmon out of the waterfalls, stream and pond, and preening their feathers
after feasting on a fish dinner in our new enclosed rainforest area.
Also, the new flight center's flight conditioning areas include
four convalescent mews, two vertical flight mews to test and condition
for lift, and a clinical aerobic flight tube, where birds will have to
demonstrate their stamina and maneuverability, before they can "graduate" to
release back to the wild.
Feedback from our visitors this summer has confirmed this "amazing
educational experience" reflects the old adage, "a picture
is worth a thousand words." Seeing bald eagles regaining their
flight skills and knowing they will be flying soon in the wilds of Alaska
helps our visitors take home the hope that conservation of both species
and their habitat is worthwhile work. And just by walking through our
doors, our visitors help us with this important mission.
If you've not had a chance to visit us recently, check out these
photos of the facility, and the first of thousands of birds we expect to
heal in a new flight-training center that will help us serve our education,
rehabilitation and research mission better and better!
Help us Take Flight!
While construction of the flight center is completed, much work remains
to make the facility an interactive educational opportunity. We still
need to raise about $300,000 for Phase II of the flight center project,
which includes paving and beautifying our entryway, creating directional
signage, and developing engaging, museum-quality educational displays
that help visitors understand flight mechanics, raptor adaptations, and
the coastal rainforest ecosystem in which these amazing birds live. If
you'd like to help us put the finishing touches on the facility,
please send your contribution to:
Alaska Raptor Center
Attention: Flying Again
P.O. Box 2984
Sitka, AK 99835
Thank you to everyone who graciously has donated to this effort — your
support allows us to continue accomplishing our mission of medical treatment,
education and research.
 Avian Keeper Janet Peterson places food for rehabilitating raptors to eat in the enclosed rainforest area of the new flight training center, while a bald eagle flies overhead (upper left). The new facility adds 20,000 square feet to the Center's rehabilitation areas, and provides a natural space for bald eagles to heal and fly in. The enclosed rainforest allows birds to perch on logs and trees, wade in the stream and pond, and swoop down to snag salmon in a natural setting.
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 "Zane," a
second year male bald eagle, now flies free over the
mountains and muskegs of Alaska. He was admitted March 28 after having
been rescued in Sitka. He appeared to have fed on a whale or seal carcass
which left his feathers sticky and greasy, and also had sustained mild
injuries to his chest. He responded well to our care, and was released
June 26, 2003.
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 A
bald eagle suns himself in the enclosed rainforest. This area gives
visitors a unique view of the birds while enabling clinical staff to gauge
a patient's ability to gain elevation and swoop in for food - critical
behaviors necessary for survival in the wild. |
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