A patron saint to state’s eagles
Gibson has cared for and released over 1,000 birds
Family lore has it that Marge Gibson's first spoken word was “birdy.”
No one who knows her today would dispute the claim.
They might only offer an adjective to go with it: “big.”
Starting during her youth in Antigo, Gibson has carved a life of advocacy for all forms of avian beings, but over the last four decades is especially known for her work with eagles.
First it was golden eagles in California, then bald eagles in Alaska.
And since 1990, when she had her husband Don Gibson moved to Antigo to help her aging parents and establish a wildlife care and education facility, she
has earned recognition for her skill and dedication to bald eagle rehabilitation in her native state.
She has released more eagles – the exact number hasn’t been tracked but is easily more than 1,000 – back to the wild than any other person in the state.
“It’s a happy occasion,” Gibson said. “It’s always our goal, to get the birds healthy and strong enough to live freely in the wild, so yes, it’s a joy to see them fly off.”
Most of the eagles she has released were successfully treated at Raptor Education Group Inc. (REGI), the Antigo wildlife rehabilitation and education center she co-founded with Don in 1990.
Others were provided to her by the Department of Natural Resources or other agencies or groups.
On Saturday, Gibson is scheduled to release the latest cohort of rehabbed eagles at an event in Prairie du Sac.
Depending on the results of the birds’ health exams later this week, three or four eagles will likely be ready, she said in a Tuesday phone interview.
The releases have been a star attraction for more than a decade at Bald Eagle Days events in Prairie du Sac.
“It’s as close as most people will ever get to a live eagle,” Gibson said. “It may only be for a few seconds, but it can make a big impression.”
Gibson doesn’t know exactly what triggered her life-long kinship with birds. But growing up in Antigo in the 1950s, she had parents who encouraged her interest in all forms of outdoor activities.
Her father was a lumberjack and deputy game warden who would sometimes bring home injured wildlife. Her mother was a camp cook.
That first word as an infant led to complete presentations on the subject. When Gibson was 11, she gave a talk on birds to the Audubon Society.
After earning a college degree in medical technology and moving to California, her career switched fields thanks to a workplace regulation.
She met and married Don, a pathologist, while the two worked for the same hospital in Orange County. But since a rule prohibited spouses from working at the same facility, Marge left human health care and began assisting with projects on California condors and golden eagles.
Gibson was the only person on the ornithology team, she said, who knew how to draw blood, a critical skill to monitor bird health.
Her experience with eagles increased dramatically following the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska in 1989 when Gibson heeded a call for help and accepted a job as team leader of eagle capture and assessment.
This time the eagles were our whiteheaded, white-tailed national symbols, though most were smudged with oil.
She worked in Alaska for a year while Don stayed in California with their children.
Then in 1990, the Gibsons moved to Antigo to help care for Marge’s aging parents.
The same year the couple co-founded REGI, the rehabilitation and education center.
After they got their feet on the ground, the facility “took off,” Gibson said.
"There was a strong need," Gibson said. "Everything fell into place in a remarkable way. I feel like I just got out of the way and let it happen."
The facility holds permits from the State of Wisconsin and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to possess threatened and endangered indigenous species for rehabilitation and educational purposes.
It treats about 1,000 birds a year, everything from hummingbirds to eagles, Gibson said.
Wisconsin’s bald eagle population has fared well over the last 60 years, mostly due to federal and state protections and the banning of DDT and related chemicals, which caused reproductive failures.
In 2019, the DNR counted 1,684 occupied eagle nests in the state, up from 107 in 1974.
However, as the number of eagles has soared, so has the need for rehabilitation.
Gibson said REGI takes in and treats about 100 bald eagles each year.
Twenty-five percent are suffering from lead poisoning, mostly from hunters’ bullet fragments in deer carcasses.
“That could so easily be prevented if people used copper bullets,” Gibson said.
Other eagles take in rat poison, are hit by vehicles, strike power lines or are illegally shot.
“We’re seeing more shootings and poisonings now, which is worrying,” Gibson said. “We can’t start to take eagles for granted.”
In the last year, REGI completed an expansion, which enhanced the treatment and education areas.
Also last year, Don Gibson died of cancer. The couple had been married for 44 years.
Marge called her husband an “extraordinary human being” who “loved our work at REGI and sacrificed much to make certain it would continue.”
She is grateful that he was able to see the new clinic completed before he died.
“He looked forward to the future of REGI, as do I,” Gibson said.
This weekend, that will include another appearance by Gibson with eagles for a release in Prairie du Sac.
She’ll feed the eagles a meal of beef heart - “it’s a mother’s instinct,” Gibson said - and slowly carry them around the crowd for viewing.
When the time is right, Gibson will stand quietly, then use both hands to push the bird into the air.
In a flurry of wing beats, the big bird will gather itself and gain altitude and its freedom.
“That’s what makes this all worth it,” Gibson said. “That’s the best sight of all.”
Bald eagle release: Marge Gibson of REGI is planning to release three or four rehabilitated bald eagles on Saturday in Prairie du Sac, Wis.
The event will allow close-up viewing and photography opportunities with live eagles, as well as the chance to see the birds fly back into the wild.
The release is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at VFW Memorial Park, 700 VFW Drive, Prairie du Sac, WI 53578.
There is no cost to attend. For more information, visit the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council website.