By Victoria Parsons
If you visit Boyd Hill Nature Preserve expecting to see a majestic bald eagle like those posed in patriotic photos with the American flag, you'll probably be disappointed.
But if you visit at dinnertime, you'll see a side of our national symbol that will likely strike home even more deeply. Abiaka is a juvenile bald eagle who fell from a pine tree on Honeymoon Island last winter. The fall broke important tendons in his wing, so he'll never be able to live in the wild.
Instead, he's being trained as an ambassador to visit schools and festivals where he can inspire people – particularly children – to protect his brethren in the wild.
"People who have a connection to nature are much more likely to protect it," says Gabe Vargo, a retired professor of biological oceanography at the University of South Florida and head of the birds of prey aviary at Boyd Hill. "Once you've seen a bird like this, you won't want to let anything harm them."
Although some birds can be trained in three to five months, Vargo expects to spend at least three years before Abiaka is ready to venture into a classroom. "Eagles spend as much time training us as we spend training them," he quips.
As a juvenile, Abiaka is nearly all brown. The white feathers that give bald eagles their distinctive appearance won't emerge until he's mature at about age five. He's as large as he'll ever be, though, because young eagles actually have longer wing feathers than adults. "They've been sitting in a nest being fed for months – then they need to learn to fly."
Although Vargo is reluctant to anthropomorphize Abiaka, there's a clear bond between the bird and his trainer. "He's not tame, he's trained," he says. "All the birds here are wild animals, not pets."
In late August, Vargo was training Abiaka to step off his wire perch and onto a scale so he can easily be weighed. "He's in the midst of his terrible twos, we'll make some progress then he'll decide he just doesn't want to do any more and we take a couple of steps backward."
Training is accomplished using positive reinforcement – in the case of an eagle, that's a little less than a half-pound of frozen rodent. "If he's hungry he'll do more than if he's not," Vargo notes.
Abiaka already has learned to climb onto Vargo's arm and tolerates him placing a PVC support under it to help him hold the 7-pound bird longer. But even tiny changes can create problems – Vargo slipped a pen in his shirt pocket one afternoon and Abiaka refused to climb onto his normal perch. "It took me a couple of tries to figure out exactly what was upsetting him."
Just a few months ago, a visitor outside his large screened aviary might havedistracted Abiaka entirely, but Vargo says that spectators are welcome now. "It's good for him to be near different people – we've got to get him ready for the wide and wonderful world of classrooms.
Vargo feeds Abiaka every afternoon starting about 4:30 or 5 p.m. except Saturdays. Spectators are welcome although he does request that visitors remain calm and quiet to avoid upsetting Abiaka. Get there early to explore one of the region's most spectacular parks with five unique ecosystems connected by three miles of trails and boardwalks. Admission is $3 for adults or $1.50 for children under 16.
Vargo also schedules two eagle walks each year to show people eagles living in the wild. The first is usually held in late February shortly after the eggs have hatched with the second scheduled in April, just before the eaglets are ready to fledge. Dates will not be determined until the eagles actually lay their eggs. Visit www.stpete.org/boyd or email Vargo at pandion2@yahoo.com for more information.