Juneau Raptor Center Informations

The Juneau Raptor Center (JRC) is a raptor rehabilitation center in Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. Founded in 1987 and located in the Tongass National Forest, its mission is the rehabilitation of sick and injured eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, ravens, hummingbirds and other avian wildlife brought in from Juneau and Southeast Alaska. The JRC is licensed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to handle eagles and migratory birds, and is governed in part by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Actand the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

The Juneau Raptor Center is a private, 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization which relies on donations for its financial survival and day-to-day operation, accepting donated funds and food. Contributions have included US$10,000 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service toward its building fund, and food for the recovering birds' dietary requirements.

In 2012, the center received and treated 145 birds, of which 40 were raptors and 105 non-raptors. Birds brought to the center are treated by an all volunteer staff, who keep them in their homes during the birds' treatment and rehabilitation. In addition, the center operates an education and viewing center at the top of the Mount Roberts Tramway. The small structure, independent of the main Tram building, includes a shelter for birds too injured to release back into the wild, and a viewing platform for visitors. Center volunteers on duty answer questions from the public and provide information on the bird's life cycle, habitat, and the treatment which the bird has received.

Juneau Raptor Center staff have treated and released a wide variety of birds over the years. Despite the Raptor Center's name, rescues are not limited to eagles or other birds of prey; the JRC staff accept any species of bird brought to them for treatment.

In August 1998, Center staff were notified of a juvenile bald eagle which had collided with an automobile. The staff crated the bird, and took it to the home of a JRC volunteer, who found it to be uninjured.

On 3 May 2008, the Juneau Raptor Center released three bald eagles in a single day. The eagles, which Center staff named Truston, Gus and Pete, were all brought to the JRC on different dates and treated by staff members. The eagles' injuries ranged in severity, and included failure to thrive, torn muscle tissue, and "crop stasis", an inability to digest food. All were successfully treated and released.

In July 2010, children reported to the Center that they had found a hermit thrush stranded in the Mendenhall River and in danger of drowning. The uninjured but at risk thrush was cared for and fed by Center staff, who successfully released it two weeks later.

In August 2010 the JRC rescued three young barn swallows which had fallen out of a nest. Two of the swallows died, but the Center staff were able to save the third, which they named Clinger. Clinger was fed, treated, and successfully released into the wild.

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