Runaway raptor lured back to zoo

A runaway falcon was returned to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle around 11:30 a.m. yesterday, after nearly five days on the lam.

Kenai, a gyrfalcon who was raised in captivity and doesn't know how to hunt for her own dinner, lost about 15 percent of her body weight during her little spree.

Since the zoo announced her disappearance earlier this week, it's received hundreds of calls from people who thought they spotted the 9-year-old bird with the 4-foot wingspan. The calls came from all over the region, including Arlington, Yelm, Mount Vernon, Bellevue and Bainbridge Island.

"She was either a very busy bird or people were mistaken," said Gigi Allianic, a zoo spokeswoman.

After weeding out many false leads, the zoo's raptor keepers finally thought they had a bona fide sighting of the bird about 20 miles from the zoo, at the Cedar Hills Landfill in Maple Valley, yesterday morning. The telltale sign? This bird had slim leather straps dangling from her legs — devices that are used in the zoo's flying demonstrations.

"That was a pretty solid lead," Allianic noted.

Sara Manetti, a raptor keeper, was sent to the site immediately, and threw out a lure with some food. Kenai flew right over.

"The gyrfalcon immediately recognized her," Allianic said of Manetti.

The bird "was bobbing her head up and down and immediately started vocalizing. Those are signs of recognition."

Kenai, Allianic said, was undoubtedly happy to see her keeper.

But last Saturday, she played a little trick on the keeper when she flew off during a flying demonstration around 12:30 p.m.

It's not unusual for birds to fly the coop under such circumstances, Allianic said, but they always come back soon. In addition, the birds are equipped with radio transmitters so they can be tracked if they escape.

In Kenai's case, however, the transmitter failed almost immediately after she flew away — whether it fell off accidentally or was chewed off, no one knows.

When she didn't come back overnight, the keepers started getting concerned. It was Kenai's longest taste of freedom since she arrived at Woodland Park nine years ago. Hoping the bird would return on her own, the zoo waited until Wednesday to put out word that it needed the public's help in finding her.

"We're really grateful to the community," Allianic said. "If it weren't for them, we would not have found her."

Kenai has been given a day off from flying demonstrations to recover from her ordeal, but she's doing well and appears to be uninjured.

But, Allianic said, "she looked pretty hungry. That's probably why she was at a landfill, looking for some scraps."

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com