The month of April has not been kind to seabirds in Southern California. Hundreds of aquatic birds – especially Loons – have been found emaciated and sick along Ventura County beaches.
More than 80 affected birds have come into care at our Los Angeles Wildlife Center since April 1st. The bulk of the rescued seabirds have been Loons. So far 76 Loons (52 Pacific Loons and 24 Red-throated Loons), a handful of Common Murres and Scoters, and one Brown Pelican have come to us due to this event.
The culprit is more than likely a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) in the Pacific Ocean. The algae that make up these blooms can produce Domoic Acid, a toxin that causes neurological issues in mammals and birds that eat anchovies, sardines, and crustaceans that have eaten the toxic algae.
Volunteers with the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network have rescued the bulk of the affected birds. According to reports, around 300 birds have been picked up alive from local beaches, while hundreds more have been found dead. Many birds died shortly after recue but those that survived more than a short time were transferred to Bird Rescue’s center in San Pedro, CA. Some of the birds were injured while having seizures on the beach and will require several weeks in care to heal their wounds once recovered from their neurologic problems.
The good news is that we have already released 15 rehabilitated birds (12 Loons and 3 Murres) back to the wild in Morro Bay on April 26th. We released so far away on advice from CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife in order to get the birds away from the algae bloom areas. We hope to have another group of loons ready to release next week. Treating birds affected by domoic acid involves intensive medication regimens and fluid therapy to clear the bird of toxin and treat any abnormal neurologic symptoms.
Please donate now to help support our care of these amazing birds!
Bird Rescue continues to see more frequent indicators of climate change, warmer seas that include dangerous HABs and Domoic acid outbreaks.
A large number of beached sick and emaciated seabirds rescued along Santa Barbara’s coastline are flooding into International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles wildlife center. More than 40 birds, especially Red-throated and Pacific Loons have arrived into care at the center located in San Pedro.
Loons are one of the more challenging families of birds that we treat. They are high stress, strictly pelagic (deep water), and are susceptible to the onset of secondary problems while in care. Some of the loons currently in care are also suffering from neurological issues and need to have special medications to calm mild seizure-like behaviors.
The Santa Barbara Channel is also a busy spot for Loons and other migrating birds moving northward to summer breeding locations.
Thanks to our partners at Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network who are coordinating the rescue and transport of these sickened birds.
Released Snowy Egret A69 nesting with chicks at 9th Street Rookery in Santa Rosa, CA. Photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography.
April is Baby Dinosaur Month at Bird Rescue! As we celebrate the sometimes-awkward beauty of young egrets and herons, we would also like to make a plea for responsible tree trimming. Bird nests can be hard to spot–from the bird’s perspective, that’s the intention! So please, please do not even think about trimming trees during nesting season. Schedule your trees to be trimmed starting in the fall from September to January and still check thoroughly for occupied nests. The Golden Gate Audubon Society has a helpful page to help guide you here.
Black-crowned Night-Herons in care. Photo: Cheryl Reynolds-International Bird Rescue.
Back in 2014, a federal agency in downtown Oakland contracted with a local tree trimmer to trim ficus trees that were serving as the home of a bustling urban rookery. The results were a horrifying and a number of nesting Black-crowned Night-Herons were killed and injured in the tree trimming. Bird Rescue cared for the ones that were saved from incident. Since that time, however, our friends at Golden Gate Audubon, the Oakland Zoo, and a group of superb volunteers have combined efforts to monitor this rookery, deal with fallen and injured babies, transport them to Bird Rescue for care, and releasing them in public ceremonies to draw more attention to these birds.
Just last year we cared for more than 800 young herons and egrets. Many of them arrived from local rookeries in Santa Rosa, Oakland, Fairfield , and Long Beach. These pre-historic looking water birds take a lot of care and we rely on the generosity of people just like you to help get them back to the wild. Please help by adopting one of these “baby dinosaurs”!
In the meantime, please consider supporting our important work with wildlife. Adopt-a-Heron-Egret or donate. Thanks!
Thanks to a generous grant from the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation (HCBF), International Bird Rescue (Bird Rescue) offers academic internships that provide learning opportunities for Southern California students and a more detailed research findings of wildlife rescue for the scientific community.
Andrew was honored with a 2017 Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award, presented by NOAA.
One recent intern was Andrew Zhu, a Palos Verdes Peninsula High School junior, who began his academic internship at Bird Rescue during his summer break in June 2016. For his intern research project, Andrew chose to analyze re-encounter data on previously oiled, washed, and released birds, all of which had been outfitted with a metal federal band at the time of their release. The re-encounter data consists of reports from members of the public who have found and reported a banded bird, dead or sometimes even alive. Andrew compiled information from these band reports and the corresponding patient paperwork from each bird’s stay at Bird Rescue. Although his dataset was fairly small, there were some pretty interesting findings. Check out Andrew’s poster to see the intriguing cases he uncovered!
Recently, Andrew submitted his research poster to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Science and Engineering Fair, held on March 14, 2017. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded him the 2017 Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award.
“My experience at Bird Rescue is one that I will always remember. During my time here, I probably learned more information than I would have in 300 hours of school,” says Andrew Zhu.
“Not only was I greeted by warm and passionate staff members every day, but I also learned a great deal about the detrimental effects of oil spills on aquatic wildlife, a bird’s anatomy, and the formal research process. Perhaps some of the most memorable moments were watching Dr. Becky perform surgery on a Great Blue Heron who was shot twice and a Western Gull who had parasitic worms in its eyes,” added Zhu.