ST. MARIES - The soft brown feathers on the chest of B.B. the bald eagle heaved with his breath Thursday morning as handlers placed a hood on him.

Those feathers also hid the fact that he is underweight, indicated by the sharp keel, or part of his breastbone, that could be felt through the plumage and in the middle of the chest that has potential to become full and mighty.

"Clear!" raptor biologist Janie Veltkamp said to her assistant as she set the eagle on the scale for an accurate reading.

"That's how you weigh an eagle," she said. "This bird's going back to the wild, but it's going to be a while."

B.B., nicknamed for where he was found in Bottle Bay near Sandpoint, is one of about a dozen eagles in the care of Birds of Prey Northwest, a Coeur d'Alene-based, volunteer-run nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates raptors while promoting stewardship and conservation of these special birds through educational programs. The facility, located outside St. Maries, is at a record for golden and bald eagles. Veltkamp said Birds of Prey usually sees three to six in a whole year and three wound up at the facility just in the last week or so.

"Young eagles have fledged and are getting into trouble, taking their first flights, they're crashing and burning," she said.

In B.B.'s case, he was beaten up by a pair of nesting adult bald eagles, left grounded and starving and was found by a family that captured him and contacted Birds of Prey.

"He should weigh 9-10 pounds. He weighed 6 (when he arrived)," Veltkamp said. "We don't know what happened to him, he has no fractures, we don't know if he was poisoned and then came out of it a week later, no food on board, but he's going back to the wild."

One of the eagles housed at Birds of Prey is a baby that came from Rose Lake. The nest collapsed on her in a windstorm and killed her brother. The landowner found her close to death and got her to Veltkamp as soon as possible. She was nursed back to health and is going to make it after all.

"That process can take several months and cost several thousand dollars per bird," said Veltkamp, who is the founder and executive director of the organization.

Birds of Prey is heavily permitted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the birds are held on special permits for educational purposes, rehabilitation or falconry. About 50 percent of the raptors return to the wild. Some simply can't survive their injuries, poisoning or other ailments, and some who can never fully recover become long-term residents. Among the temporary and not-so-temporary tenants are screech owls, pygmy owls, ravens, an Arctic gyrfalcon, great horned owls, a baby osprey and several more majestic and vocal raptors.

"Most of these birds were hurt by something man-made," said Janie's husband, Don, who also works with the birds and serves as the president of the organization's board. "We feel that we want to give them a shot. If we hurt them, we should try to fix them."

Don said that the programs presented by Birds of Prey are the key to people, especially youths, understanding the importance of being proactive and positive stewards for these incredible birds.

"Put us in front of youth and show them up close birds on our glove - not just eagles, but owls, hawks, falcons, ospreys - they'll learn quick. They're not going to go out and shoot them. They're going to try to protect them," he said. "I think we have a lot bigger impact educating than releasing a few rehabbed birds, although releasing the rehabbed bird is rewarding."

Scott Dinger of Hauser is a master falconer who has been helping at Birds of Prey for several years. He carried an adult bald eagle in his leather-covered arms, his face beaming as he held the bird firmly yet carefully.

"Today's kind of special for me because someday, I want to fly an eagle in the sport of falconry," he said, explaining that in order to earn an eagle permit he must work with people who professionally handle eagles.

"That's the first time I've ever held a big raptor," he said. "I've handled falcons and goshawks, they're considered large raptors, but that was a pretty special moment for me, one more thing that I can say that not many falconers get to do."

Janie has been working with raptors for 25 years. She said the birds serve an important purpose in the natural ecosystem.

"They help really define wilderness and the part of the ecosystem we call 'Idaho,'" she said. "One of the things we've learned from the DDT-era - that's that bug spray we used to use - when you poison the environment, guess who gets sick first? Your birds of prey. We call them 'bioindicators,' so they indicate to us how well we're taking care of the planet.

"There are lots of reasons why I think they're important in addition to defining our wilderness," she continued. "Just their sheer beauty, and their distinct hunting styles. The peregrine falcon dives at 200 miles per hour after ducks and pigeons. The bald eagle can spot a fish from a mile away in shallow water and snag it. Just their incredible predatory styles and their inherent wildness is juxtaposed to being here next to hands that help them, human helping hands."

Janie, who is a former nurse and has a master's in biology, has a sense of humor and a heart for the creatures she helps, but she is all business when it comes to rehabilitating, fostering and returning them to the wild where they belong.

"As a professional, I am duty-bound to get these guys healthy, fixed up, mended, surgery if needed, liquid slurry if they're starving, sub(cutaneaous) fluids, vitamin shots, many of the same things a human would get if they're starving," she said. "My patients just have 8,000 feathers."

Birds of Prey Northwest will be presenting eight of its raptor ambassadors, including America's revered symbol, the bald eagle, to the public during a free presentation at 4 p.m. Saturday in the picnic shelter of Coeur d'Alene City Park.

Info: www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org

What to do when you find

an injured bird of prey

1. Cover the bird's head. Leather gloves are helpful to keep your skin protected.

2. Carefully grab it by the ankles. Place it in a box or a pet carrier.

3. Call the experts. Report your find to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at 769-1414 or Birds of Prey Northwest at 245-1367. Do not feed the injured bird. Transport it immediately.