Wrangell eagle and heron enjoying seafood meals in Sitka

A year-old eagle and a young great blue heron from Wrangell are spending the start of their summer at the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka, gaining weight, growing feathers and getting strong enough to return to life in the wild.

The heron arrived in Sitka on Monday, the eagle on June 3, said Jen Cedarleaf, avian director at the center.

Both birds were picked up in Wrangell by the U.S. Forest Service and sent to the center for rehab, she said.

The heron weighs just a little over two pounds, and likely fell out of the nest, Cedarleaf said Tuesday. There is nothing really wrong with the bird, other than being hungry. "He's pretty adorable, I have to say."

The staff named the heron Simon, after a young visitor to the center had recently asked: How come none of the birds were named Simon?

The heron is eating on his own, though Cedarleaf said staff have to cut up the large herring - the fish are too big for Simon to down in one gulp.

Even as an adult, herons are not heavy, maybe five or six pounds. "They're really a lot of neck and legs," she said. And their bones are hollow, just like other birds.

Simon is still growing his flight feathers and probably will spend at least another month at the center before staff releases him in the Sitka area, Cedarleaf said.

Though not a frequent guest at the center, herons do check in occasionally. One spent time there last year for rehab, she said.

Eagles are much more common guests at the facility, which had 16 as of Tuesday, with three or four new arrivals in the time since the Wrangell eagle checked in, Cedarleaf said. All of the recent arrivals were in the same condition, she said. "They're starving and they're covered with feather lice." Two of the new guests were from Juneau and one from Ketchikan.

The eagle was reported on the ground by the Nolan Center, with the Forest Service and state trooper responding. Jim Nelson of the Forest Service was able to wrap up the eagle and place it into a dog kennel for the flight to Sitka, said Chadd Yoder, a fish and wildlife officer with the troopers in Wrangell, who assisted in the recovery.

The raptor center named the hungry eagle Caterpillar, since the bug also eats a lot of food when growing up, Cedarleaf said. "She is starving and will take your arm off," she said of the young bird.

The author of the children's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," Eric Carle, died last month, and the raptor center staff thought it would be a kind gesture to name the eagle after the hungry subject of Carle's book.

Staff had to use a tube to feed Caterpillar for the first few meals, and then moved to small chunks of salmon before she could graduate to full salmon, Cedarleaf said. The center starts with boneless, skinless salmon pieces because they are easier for the birds to digest.

The eagle has since been moved to the center's main eagle habitat area, flying around with other eagles and "eating anything she wants."

Caterpillar could get her freedom by August, depending on how quickly she recovers. She will be tagged with a band, in case someone spots the bird and can read the band from afar, or if she dies and the tag is recovered, Cedarleaf said.

Though staff will release the eagle in the Sitka area, it's possible she could return to Wrangell someday. The birds will go to where they find food, she said.