A wing and a prayer

ANTIGO, WIS. -- Alaska is home to thousands of bald eagles. But, for more than 13 years, Wisconsin has been home to one Alaska bald eagle.

Qushquluk, the most heavily oiled eagle rescued from Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, is part of a static display at Raptor Education Group Inc. in Antigo, Wis.

"We've learned so much about eagles from studying her," said REGI founder, Marge Gibson.

Gibson led a team of eagle experts who captured and evaluated the health of bald eagles in Prince William Sound after the spill. Of the 113 captured, 98 were released within a half hour, while 15 were sent to a raptor rehabilitation facility in Anchorage.

"We only kept eagles who had an oil spot the size of a quarter or more," Gibson said.

Only Qush remains in captivity today.

Gibson said most eagles in Prince William Sound were only slightly oiled after the spill. She said their keen eyesight and intelligence allowed them to do things like hunt in areas of the Sound that weren't heavily oiled and share hunting territories with other eagles.

"They adapted in ways we didn't know about in 1989," said Gibson.

But Qush's right wing was broken, and she was forced to hunt along the shores of Herring Bay, one of the most heavily oiled areas in the Sound.

"She was probably on the ground for three weeks or more. She was dragging that wing through the mud and oil," Gibson said.

She said the eagle's injury might not have been related to the spill, but the oil and mud that packed her bones led to osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone. As a result, a portion of the broken wing had to be amputated.

Qush could no longer survive in the wild. Gibson obtained a permit from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to keep the eagle for research purposes.

"We thought she'd be an excellent research model because her blood-making system was exposed to oil [at the site of her fracture] for an extended period of time," she said.

In August 1989 she took Qush to a wildlife center she had founded in California, the Orange County Bird of Prey Center. Then in 1990, she and Qush moved to Gibson's hometown in Wisconsin, where she founded REGI.

Gibson began monitoring Qush's health at once and continues to do so today. She draws blood on her every six months and monitors her eating and behavior.

"Our main concern was that liver or kidney damage would show up in her, but, so far, she's in good shape," Gibson said.

Qush had a squamous cell carcinoma removed a year ago at the site of her amputation. But Gibson said those growths are common in animals at trauma sites. And, she added, Qush was already in her 20s at the time of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Now in her mid 30s to 40s, any illness that she might develop could be the result of age rather than the result of oil exposure.

Gibson said that, while she and other researchers anticipated some sort of future illness in the eagle, Qush's good health makes sense biologically.

"You have to remember that [eagles] are first-line predators. In the wild, weakness and injury aren't tolerated," she said. "It says something about their bodies' way of dealing with things."

While Gibson has been surprised by Qush's good health, she said the eagle's behavior has been even more surprising.

"They are intelligent and they are absolutely positive about certain things," she said.

She said when she first took Qush to California, for instance, she tried to feed her salmon. But Qush wouldn't touch it.

"I thought, 'This doesn't make sense. I know she ate salmon in Alaska.' But then I thought about it and I realized that, even in Alaska, eagles don't eat salmon all year. She eats salmon sometimes, but only during salmon run times," Gibson said.

Another surprise came when a wild rabbit made its way into Qush's area. Gibson was sure that the eagle would kill it and eat it. But instead, the rabbit made its home near Qush's nest. Rather than hunting it, Qush protected and cared for her new neighbor.

Again, Gibson looked at the situation from a biological standpoint and determined that Qush's behavior made sense.

"[Just as] in their natural history, they only eat certain foods at certain times of the year, they also don't eat everything around them," Gibson said. "They kill to survive and feed their young. Their nesting territory and hunting territory are removed. This is her home territory, so she doesn't eat things in here."

Gibson refers to the rabbit as Qush's pet and says the eagle has kept other pets over the years. Qush now has a pet crow.

"She lets Tony (the crow) eat first. She's kind of like Mrs. Smith next door with her poodle," Gibson said.

For the past eight years, Qush has shared her home with more than her pets: She shares it with a male eagle, Sam.

But Qush and Sam have never mated. Qush lays eggs each spring and makes Sam sit on them.

"But the eggs never hatch because their relationship hasn't progressed to that point," Gibson said with a smile.

Since eagles mate for life, Gibson suspects that Qush may still feel a sense of loyalty to a mate she might have had in Alaska.

"I think she was mated for a long time," she said.

She says Sam makes advances. He does little things like presenting her sticks for her nest in the spring.

But Qush isn't interested. And at more than 16 pounds and one-third bigger than Sam, Qush rules the roost.

"She's a big girl," Gibson said.

In fact, she said, measurements taken of her beak and back talon at the time of her capture revealed that Qush was the largest eagle ever measured. So she can make it clear that no means no.

Though Sam and Qush may never have a family of their own, Qush serves as a foster mom to injured or orphaned baby eagles that come through the center. REGI is the world's largest raptor rehabilitation center, and Gibson and other REGI volunteers treat some 400 raptors each year. Many of these are baby eagles.

"We try to put them back into the wild as soon as possible," Gibson said, adding that Qush helps out as the babies recover.

In addition to using Qush as a foster parent, Gibson uses the eagle to help educate school children and other visitors to REGI.

"She's a wonderful bird. She demonstrates the strength and presence in eagles," Gibson said.

Though Qush is not in her natural habitat, Gibson said visitors get a chance to see how eagles live. There is an area in Qush's aviary, for instance, filled with sticks that she uses as a nest.

"When visitors see that, we can go into explaining that a traditional eagle's nest weighs 2,000 pounds," Gibson said.

And she said they never forget to mention the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the tragedy that brought Qush to them.

"There's a very real reason to use her," she said. "Maybe her injury wasn't related to the Exxon Valdez. But she was in the area and it impacted her life."

Gibson said the learning opportunities are the silver lining of the tragedy.

"We've learned so much about eagles and their adaptability," she said. "Not to belittle the tragedy, but we did learn."

And she said, despite the tragedy, Qush is happy.

"She's more than just captive: She does educational stuff; she raises babies; she keeps pets. Her life is pretty enriched," said Gibson.

"I think she's enjoying her retirement in northern Wisconsin."