Wildlife Nation Exclusive Clip: Alaska Raptors Join host Jeff Corwin on an epic Alaskan adventure to help save some of North America’s most impressive feathered flyers. Jeff begins exploring the old-growth Tongass National Forest and learns how
Join host Jeff Corwin on an epic Alaskan adventure to help save some of North America’s most impressive feathered flyers. Jeff begins exploring the old-growth Tongass National Forest and learns how this ancient ecosystem has shaped the many birds that call it home. Later, Jeff visits the Alaska Raptor Center where he meets iconic bald eagles, beautiful great blue herons, lightning-quick goshawks, and helps rehabilitated birds return to the wild.
Video Transcript:
Jeff Corwin:
Hey there, friends. I'm Jeff Corwin and welcome to what is going to be an awesome adventure today on Wildlife Nation. We are exploring one of the great wild frontiers in North America. Of course, I'm talking about Alaska, and to help launch our incredible journey, I'm
with Flash. Flash is a goshawk. And this is Pat. Pat works with Defenders of Wildlife. And Pat, I thought it'd be kind of fun to introduce this adventure with Flash, because this bird has a connection to this ecosystem.
Patrick Lavin:
Indeed, this bird thrives in this ecosystem, Jeff, and only in this ecosystem, in old-growth
forest, just as we have surrounding us here.
Jeff Corwin:
What's incredible about the goshawk is they are just superb predators. Their ability to negotiate and navigate through a bramble and tangle of branches is unmatched in the world of raptors. And Pat, this forest where we're standing is unmatched when it comes to national forests, isn't it?
Patrick Lavin:
That's the Tongass National Forest. It's by far our nation's largest forest and largest intact temperate rain forest in North America.
Jeff Corwin:
There are many classic celebrated Alaskan species that survive because of this forest.
Patrick Lavin:
For species like goshawks, wolves, bears, Sitka black-tailed deer.
Jeff Corwin:
Salmon.
Patrick Lavin:
Yes, all of these species depend on our keeping the old-growth forest intact.
Jeff Corwin:
It's lush. It's verdant, it's filled with life. But when it comes to issues like climate change, it's also critically important, isn't it?
Patrick Lavin:
Forests sequesters carbon, pulls carbon from the atmosphere, stores it in the trees and soil that you see here and does that better than almost any other landscape. So if you can keep the forest intact, allow it to continue serving that function, that's actually a natural carbon mitigation, a
natural solution. We've done a lot of logging in the past in the Tongass and it's removed a lot of habitat for species like the goshawk.
Jeff Corwin:
But the great news is that there are still millions of acres of Tongass National Forest. So I can't think of a better way for us to launch our incredible Alaskan adventure with Flash, the goshawk at my side. It's a little clue of the great adventure to come.
Jeff Corwin:
Goshawks belong to an incredibly powerful predatory group of birds known as raptors. These amazing airborne animals come in many shapes and sizes, but for today's adventure, we're connecting with one of the most iconic of them all, the bald eagle.
Bald eagles are sea eagles that feed on fish, but also a variety of other forms of prey. They're one of North America's largest birds of prey. They build massive nests and they can live for decades.
Jeff Corwin:
This morning, we're visiting the world-renowned Alaska Raptor Center to help return a young bald eagle named Diesel back to the wild.
Dr. V:
This could be a challenge.
Jeff Corwin:
Why?
Dr. V:
The bird's up there.
Jeff Corwin:
Diesel was rescued and brought to the Raptor Center a few months ago after being hit by a car. But today, Diesel has recovered and this bald eagle is ready to fly.
Dr. V:
The goal is to get the eagle in a corner. We're going to have to move fast.
Jeff Corwin:
In order to get Diesel back into the wild, first we'll need to capture him.
Jeff Corwin:
All right.
Dr. V:
I'm going to have you... Actually don't throw your blanket, but let's just flick it and see.
Jeff Corwin:
See if we can get him to go down.
Dr. V:
That's all we needed.
Jeff Corwin:
Yeah.
Dr. V:
All right. It's good. You've got your... All right. We're going to move in slowly. Block its exit over there. There you go. Good.
Jeff Corwin:
There we go.
Dr. V:
Okay. What have you got? Okay. Are you going to let go? Nope. I am going to give this bird to you, but I want you to keep it really low because her head isn't covered.
Jeff Corwin:
Okay.
Dr. V:
So I'm going to keep a hold of things.
Jeff Corwin:
Yeah, I got them.
Jeff Corwin:
It will take a few more years for Diesel's feathers to develop the iconic white crown of adult bald eagles.
Jeff Corwin:
So what do you want to do to kind of keep the stress level down?
Dr. V:
Once we take away the visual stimulus on this bird, it's going to calm down.
Jeff Corwin:
So Diesel came to the Raptor Center in early summer. Diesel had a run in with an automobile.
Dr. V:
Yes.
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