Phil (Gyrfalcon) (Falco rusticolus). 
Phil is an adult gryfalcon born in 2006.  He became a JRC education bird in 2006. 

He was found in the Yukon Delta by U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFW) researcher Travis Booms as a fledgling.  Travis was studying nesting habits of gyrfalcons.  This bird had been one of three siblings in the nest.  The other two siblings were feathering out normally but Phil did not seem to grow any tail or wing feathers. 

After long discussions with USFW and having obtained the correct permits and permissions, Travis collected Phil from the nest.  Phil stayed with him for three weeks out in the field.  After their return to Anchorage, the bird was cared for by the Anchorage Bird Treatment and Learning Center (Bird TLC). 

Bird TLC conducted multiple tests on Phil to attempt to determine why he failed to retain any feathers necessary for flight.  The end analysis was that it is either an autoimmune problem or a genetic abnormality. 

Bird TLC then asked JRC if we would like him as an education bird and when all the necessary paperwork was finalized, Phil was placed with JRC. 

Phil is very social, unafraid of humans and this makes him an ideal education bird.

Blueberry (adult raven)
May 25, 1996 - The brilliant summer sky was blocked by a broad shadow and rapidly descending, grasping yellow feet. As the parents screamed in alarm, the raven chicks huddled in their nest, ragged pink mouths calling helplessly into the air. The eagle swooped away, talons empty. Its target, the biggest chick, lay on the pavement 40 feet below the nest. The chick’s wings, though fully feathered, were not yet capable of lifting him into the air and he could only wait for fate to bring him rescue or death.

“Blueberry,” as we named the chick (for his deep blue baby-raven eyes), was about three weeks old when he arrived at the Juneau Raptor Center. Hatched from an egg about the size of a domestic chicken’s, he was already close to full-grown. We were able to pin his fractured left leg and the fix “took” – a month later Blueberry was good as new.

Ravens are among the smartest animals in the world – they can solve puzzles, play games, manipulate other animals’ (including humans’) behavior, and they have a sense of humor. However, as intelligent creatures, they need to learn a lot to prosper. Parents continue to mentor juveniles for several months after they leave the nest and family and flock are critical to a healthy, long life. Blueberry missed baby bird school and he was unable to fend for himself when we released him. After the fourth release and eventual return to JRC, we decided Blueberry’s best prospects were as an educational bird.

Blueberry is an active participant in educational presentations. He vocalizes, sometimes using human-speak, “How are you?” makes a variety of raven calls, and provides a few antics. While at home, he’s often visited by other ravens in the downtown Juneau flock, especially the pair that nests each year in the nearby forest. In addition to his favorite foods (hard boiled eggs, watermelon, beef bones, raw quail – and, yes- blueberries!), we provide a variety of toys and activities to keep him challenged and entertained.

Nugget (barn owl)
March 2009 brought the Juneau Raptor Center a non-releasable male barn owl named Nugget.  This education bird was acquired from Jerry Thompson of the Southeast Alaska Wildlife Center in Ketchikan, Alaska.   Barn owls are found on every continent, but it's quite unusual to have them in Alaska.  
  
JRC did not have an education owl in March so when Jerry called JRC to say Nugget was available to us, we were all very  excited.  This bird was either born with, or has an injury to his left foot/leg, that has left him non-functional to grasp; for that reason he's unable to be released.  However, he is fully flighted!!!

Nugget has a very distinctive sound at times when he thinks you're getting too close to him ; this sound  resembles television static!
 
Nugget has started doing educational programs with his handlers and is a popular addition to JRC’s other education birds. 
 
Welcome to Juneau, Nugget!

Lady Baltimore (adult bald eagle)
In May of 2006 Lady Baltimore was found injured on Juneau's Douglas Island. She had been shot in her beak and the wrist of her right wing. Also, her left eye is completely blind from a detached retina . The impact of the bullet through her beak may have been the cause of the detached retina. With only one working eye, she doesn't have depth perception. Because of this, she has a tendency to run into things and wouldn't be able to hunt for her own food in the wild. The injury to her wing prevents her from achieving lift above six feet into the air. She is not releasable to the wild because these injuries are permanent and she would not survive on her own. The poacher was never caught.

It is estimated that Lady Baltimore was on her own for about two weeks with these injuries until someone found her. The reason for this estimation is due to her weight. She was about six pounds when she was found, where she is now about eleven pounds. She was originally thought to be a male because she was so light. Therefore, her name originally was Lord Baltimore.

- Her age is unknown because she was already a full adult when found. We haven't bothered to ask her what her age is because it's not polite to ask a lady her age.

- Her wingspan is 6 1/2 feet wide.

• - Her favorite part of a salmon is the head.

- She is very talkative. If Chan or I (2009 tram naturalists) move from one side of the deck to the other or just stand after sitting for awhile she calls to us. She does this even if she already has food.

- She is very calm around large groups of people as long as they aren't too loud or using their camera flashes. When she gets annoyed with people using flashes or making noises at her to get her to look, she will turn her back to them. If it persists, she hides in a corner where people can't see her.

I've been told she is quite feisty toward the other eagles.

Justice (adult bald eagle) 
In April 2000 the Juneau Raptor Center responded to a call about an injured adult bald eagle.  It's thought that this bird was in a fight with another eagle resulting in a severely damaged right eye.  After extensive treatment and a visit to a Juneau ophthalmologist, the prognosis for this eagle was not positive.  Diagnosis:  irreversible blindness. 
Blindness in one eye won't rule out releasability as long as the eagle can demonstrate the skills to survive in the wild such as being able to fly from the ground up into a tree.  Justice wasn't able to do this.  He is debilitated in such a manner that when flighted he flaps in low circles, never achieving a straight line.

It didn't take long to assess him as being a excellent candidate for becoming an education bird that travels with his handler to schools and other educational functions.  This allows people to get a rare, close up view and learn more interesting facts about eagles.

Justice is an excellent example of a typical adult male bald eagle both in temperament and size.  You probably wouldn't guess just by looking at him that he weighs in at 8.5 pounds.

He loves fish heads and upon seeing one will immediately head into his travel kennel to have this treat!

Monalisa (red-tailed hawk)
Mona was a bit of a mystery when she first arrived at JRC on December 4, 2004.  A nearly solid chocolate brown hawk, she puzzled volunteers until an avid birdwatcher finally identified her as a red-tailed hawk.  Most of her species sport a red-orange tail and variety of feather colors on the rest of their bodies.  At one time, Mona would have been called a Harlan's hawk due to her unusual plumage, but these dark birds are now considered a color phase of red-tailed hawks and tend to be found in the northwest region of North America.

Rising up from the side of Juneau’s Egan Drive near Vanderbilt Hill, Mona's right elbow was shattered in an impact with a car, an injury that could not be repaired.  When the wing healed, the elbow froze in place, preventing her from extending the wing.  Her mellow temperament made her a good candidate for an education bird and her plumage is an interesting contrast to JRC's other red-tailed hawk, Brutus.  Originally believed to be a male (and called "Mo" for several years), a blood test revealed that Mona is, in fact, female and she was renamed Monalisa.  She enjoys moving sticks around her mew and built a small grass nest beneath her perch in 2009.  Unlike most red-tailed hawks, Mona's eyes and cere have not changed color as they usually do at about three years, so her age is a mystery. 

Brutus (red-tailed hawk)
Brutus is a feisty red-tailed hawk with a classic red-orange tail and striking feather pattern.  She was found in Juneau at mile 38 at the side of the road on August 24, 2003 unable to fly.  Her wings were undamaged, but she was blind in her left eye, appeared to have a head injury, and was very hungry.  JRC volunteers nursed her back to health, but Brutus was unable to adapt to the loss of her eye and now flies in circles when attempting to fly straight.  Unable to hunt, Brutus was trained as an education bird and now makes frequent public appearances, often in the company of JRC's other red-tailed hawk, Monalisa. 

When she first arrived at JRC, Brutus was only a few months old, as evidenced by her dark, non-red tail.  JRC volunteers were uncertain of her species until the red tail grew in with her first molt the following spring.  When she was several years old, Brutus began plucking a brood patch from her belly each spring in preparation for nesting and also enjoys working with nest-building materials.