International Bird Rescue

An exotic seabird that arrived in Los Angeles as a stowaway aboard a ship from Korea is taking an unusual flight home to Hawaii this week having been rehabilitated at International Bird Rescue’s Wildlife Center in Los Angeles. The Red-Tailed Tropicbird, a solitary plunge-feeding seabird which rarely fishes within sight of land and nests on offshore islands in the pacific ocean, cannot be released from the Continental US and is instead heading home by plane with a one-way ticket on a commercial flight to Hawaii. The bird will depart from LAX on Thursday for Honolulu where it will be picked up by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) agent and then immediately flown to Midway Atoll to be released back into the wild.

International Bird Rescue, which specializes in the rescue and rehabilitation of seabirds and other aquatic birds, has provided care to many other seabird stowaways in its 40-year history – primarily Laysan Albatrosses and the occasional Frigatebird. The stowaway phenomenon is generally considered to be a simple case of mistaken identity. Laysan Albatrosses looking for new nesting islands during breeding season can see the flat surface of a cargo ship as the perfect new home. They sit quietly among the cargo containers and are not discovered until the ship is unloaded. These birds are often brought to one of International Bird Rescue’s Wildlife Centers in California, where they are evaluated, and within a few days are released off of the Coast to fly back to Hawaii, Mexico, or wherever they choose. However, the Tropicbird, which does not soar long distances like an Albatross, needs a helping hand in order to return to its remote feeding and nesting grounds.

Red-tailed Tropicbirds nest throughout the southern Pacific Ocean, from the Hawaiian Islands to Western Australia as well as in the Indian Ocean. They disperse widely after breeding, and birds with numbered leg bands from Hawaii have been discovered as far away as Japan and the Philippines.

To catch their prey in the wild, mostly flying fish and squid, the Tropicbird flies high into the air and dives with wings half-folded into the water. However, in aviaries they cannot fly high enough to plunge for food, and consequently remain sitting on the water and must be force-fed. The bird has been in quarantine in its own private pool at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center in San Pedro since September 27, and has now passed all of its required health tests and has been approved for release.

“We are very fortunate to have a specialized rescue facility and trained staff here in Los Angeles with the skills and experience to give this Tropicbird a second chance,” says Jay Holcomb, International Bird Rescue’s Director Emeritus. “We have also had great support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA, who have helped ensure swift and safe passage back home for this beautiful seabird.”

While this bird’s story is special, International Bird Rescue believes that every bird matters, and does everything it can to give each of the seabirds and aquatic birds that pass through its doors all that they need to survive and thrive. International Bird Rescue welcomes donations to help offset its expenses for not just the Tropicbird, but each of the 5,000 birds that arrive at its centers every year.

Dear Friends,

With the support of friends like you, this summer International Bird Rescue is rehabilitating and releasing hundreds of young Brown Pelicans back into the wild. It’s a beautiful sight to see, and we are deeply grateful to those of you who reached into your pockets and helped us give these birds the care – and incredible amount of food – they need to survive and thrive!

As quickly as we set these birds free, more injured, ill, and starving Pelicans arrive. We will do everything we can to help them, but in the case of natural events like this, there is no responsible party to help defray the expense.

Together, International Bird Rescue’s two Wildlife Centers have been caring for 70-100 Brown Pelicans at a time. Every bird has its own set of needs, things like surgeries and medicines, but they all need to eat. Each one consumes half its bodyweight in food every day – about 6 pounds of fish – at up to $2.05 a pound. See video

If you haven’t made a donation to International Bird Rescue yet, we hope that you will. If you have, our heartfelt thanks. We hope you’ll tell your friends why our work is important to you, and encourage them to join you. It would mean the world to us – and a whole lot more to every bird that arrives on our doorstep. Donate Now

With deepest gratitude,

Paul Kelway
Executive Director
International Bird Rescue

International Bird Rescue (Bird Rescue) is responding to a possible botulism incident on the Ballona Creek in Los Angeles, CA that has already resulted in the death of over 60 Mallard Ducks. 19 live Ducks and an American Coot (and two pelicans that were not a part of the incident – one tangled in fishing line, and the other emaciated) were captured and brought to International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center; 5 of the Ducks later perished.

Botulism is a condition brought on by the consumption of a naturally occurring toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Usually, the first sign of this sickness involves partial paralysis of the birds. Early stages might show only the nictitating membrane, or third eyelid, being paralyzed, followed by larger muscle groups. Ultimately, the ducks are unable to move and drown.

Botulism outbreaks affect many water birds species, especially waterfowl, every year in summer and fall when wetlands are dryer and there are large concentrations of birds. The toxin can be passed on through ingestion of maggots from decaying bodies. These events can be managed by picking up all dead birds, and collecting affected live ones on a daily basis. Ducks with botulism respond well to an aggressive fluid therapy treatment. Bird Rescue’s typical release rate is from 80% to 90% if the birds are captured treated in time.

Since this is a naturally occurring phenomenon, there is little that can be done to prevent it, but International Bird Rescue will mitigate the effects by having a proactive search, collection and rescue system in place.

International Bird Rescue has been working on the oil spill in the Yellowstone River in Montana for a month now. To date we have received 59 animals:  an American Robin, a Cooper’s Hawk, a Yellow Warbler, a Canadian Goose, 6 Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes, a Bullfrog, a Leopard Frog, and 47 Woodhouse’s Toads.

So why all the toads?
Toads and frogs abound in and around the Yellowstone River. Frogs stay within the watery and moist areas along the river banks, but toads seem to be everywhere – in fields, on sand bars, on the roads, in our washing tent, in our boots – everywhere. There are thousands of baby toads covering the ground, so many that you have to constantly watch your step in order to avoid squishing them. Many came from eggs in ponds that were away from the riverbed and were more or less secure when the rushing waters rose. We thought that many toads along the riverbed had been washed away in the flood, but the more we visit islands in the river that were previously inaccessible to us, the more we recognize how much we underestimated the toads’ ability to adapt.

About two weeks ago, we observed adult and thumbnail-sized baby toads on some of the islands that had been completely underwater. The current had been too strong for toads to swim to these islands. We concluded that the toads had been underground or were able to burry into the logjams of trees, branches and other debris, until the water receded and the environment suited them.

The receding waters left small pools with surface oil and oily mud around heavily oiled logjams. As the land becomes drier, the logjams and the puddles are an attractive place for toads. Although crews are cleaning up oiled debris in these hot spots very quickly, some toads were oiled as they foraged. There remains a considerable amount of land to cover, and we continue to monitor these areas and collect any wildlife in need.

How do you wash a toad or frog?
The process of washing an amphibian is easier than that for washing a bird because you are cleaning skin not feathers. We use a very light solution of Dawn in tepid water. A toad is submerged up to its neck, and we use our fingertips to wash off the oil just as you would do if you were washing your hands. For oil around the face and eyes we use a Waterpik, cotton swabs and our fingertips to loosen the oil. The toad is then rinsed and allowed to swim in fresh water for a short time to rinse off any additional soap. It is released in a clean and suitable toad area. All of the oiled amphibians in this spill have been healthy and viable animals, and all have been released in the same day that they came to us.

Jay Holcomb
Director Emeritus
International Bird Rescue

Large numbers of fledgling California Brown Pelicans are flocking to International Bird Rescue. In the last few days we have received over 75 young, weak, and starving pelicans between our Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Centers. These birds are landing in schoolyards, at restaurants and on highways – sometimes even following people – in an attempt to find food. Why is this happening? It is important to understand a few things about Brown Pelicans in California.

Brown Pelicans begin nesting as early as January on the Channel Islands off of Southern California, the northernmost nesting colony for this species. By April, the fledglings begin to leave their nests to join the adult birds in the ongoing quest for food that takes them up the coast of California. Some years produce low numbers of chicks and some produce many, depending on food availability and the number of successful nesting adults. 2011 appears to be a strong year for chick rearing.

Like all species, pelican populations experience natural selection. It is estimated that up to 80% of the annual chick population will die as part of the natural selection process. The birds that find food on their own have a good chance of surviving while the ones that do not will perish relatively quickly after leaving the nest; the pelicans that our Centers are currently receiving are all starving.

In recent years, the government has announced that the California Brown Pelican population has fully recovered from the impact of the DDT that depleted their population over 50 years ago. They were subsequently removed from the endangered species list, and are considered to be a recovered species. That is a conservation success story, but now, the Brown Pelican is facing different obstacles that challenge its survival. Oil spills, ocean pollution, domoic acid poisoning, climate change and fishing tackle entanglements take countless numbers of these birds. These losses are not a part of natural selection, they are all man-made.

International Bird Rescue receives up to 600 Brown Pelicans annually and 40% of those come to us because of fishing line entanglements. These are just the ones who make it to us, not those who, for example, are lost at sea. Man-made impacts do not naturally select the weaker birds from the population, they hit any creature in their path. Many of the birds entangled in fishing tackle are adult breeding-age birds, and the genetic pool that should secure the future of the species.

We have had sightings of some of the birds rehabilitated at our centers years later, identified by their leg bands. These sightings are significant, as they imply that giving birds a second chance really works. The way we look at it is that we lose many pelicans to the threats like fishing tackle and ocean pollution, but the young birds that are rehabilitated help to fill in the vacant slots of those lost to modern-day threats.

Rehabilitating fledgling pelicans is not difficult, but it is costly. They come to us dehydrated and weak from starvation, but if we can give them a healthy and plentiful diet of fish (from 5 to 10 pounds a day per pelican), and aviaries where they can exercise, bathe and feed, then they thrive. Once they have gained weight back, they are released into a pelican feeding or roosting area where they can continue to learn to hunt for food on their own.

They are then on their own once more – to make it or not.

Jay Holcomb
Director Emeritus
International Bird Rescue

“Populations are made up of individuals, and if you start looking at individuals as if they’re not important, then ultimately the population becomes unimportant.”

– Jay Holcomb, Director Emeritus, International Bird Rescue, in the film Saving Pelican 895, which airs starting April 20 on HBO

Rescuing Birds During the Gulf Oil Spill

When the BP Deepwater Horizon well blew out, International Bird Rescue’s team of bird rescue specialists immediately responded with an all-hands-on-deck effort to rescue oiled seabirds and stop the loss of life. International Bird Rescue teamed up with Tri-State Bird Rescue, the lead oiled wildlife organization on the ground, to initiate bird rescue efforts on the water and help staff rehabilitation centers in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

This massive oil spill tested the nerves and stamina of our team, as we saw more than 200 million gallons of oil leaked into gulf waters, and over 8,000 birds captured and collected. The oil-stained beaches, marshland and inlets ran from Louisiana to Florida. At its busiest moment, Bird Rescue had approximately 88 trained wildlife responders working on this spill. The leaking rig was finally capped on July 15—about 11 weeks after the blowout. See also: Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill detailed wildlife reports

International Bird Rescue and Tri-State Bird Rescue had to navigate politics, the media, and the weather, in finding, collecting, treating and releasing birds suffering from the effects of the oil spill. Thanks to hard work, cooperation and expertise, International Bird Rescue was able to help release 1,246 cleaned birds back to the wild, including Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, Green Herons, Snowy Egrets, Black Oystercatchers, Roseate Spoonbills and many others.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL BIRD RESCUE

In addition to responding to oil spills around the world, International Bird Rescue staff work to care for birds impacted by lesser known threats like natural oil seeps under the ocean, algal blooms, marine debris, and extreme weather. We could not do this important work without your ongoing support!

Dear Friends,

Today our organization turns 40. Reflecting on this milestone, I am especially grateful to you, our supporters, for four decades of partnership with the unyielding conviction that every bird matters – from the thousands of birds we tried to save in 1971 after an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay, and the more than 200 oil spills that followed, to the hundreds of seabirds that have arrived in our centers over recent months due to natural oil seep off the California coast. We have saved hundreds of thousands of birds.

To mark our anniversary, we have a refreshed look and a new website. Click here to take a tour. This update is simply a more contemporary way to express what has always been in our hearts, a deep commitment to doing all that we can to protect the lives of aquatic birds. You’ll see that we’ve also streamlined our name to International Bird Rescue, which we think says it all. Since the day we opened our doors, what has never changed – and never will – are our values, and especially our belief that every bird matters.

Over the past four decades, both the scope and the sophistication of our clinical work and research have evolved. Our dedicated team, supported by a remarkable crew of over 100 volunteers, now works out of two state-of-the-art wildlife care centers on the West Coast which treat more than 5,000 birds every year. We’ve responded to aquatic bird emergencies in all corners of the globe, from oiled Murres in Alaska following the Exxon Valdez, and the 20,000 penguins caught in the Treasure spill in South Africa, to the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico one year ago today.

All of this work is only possible because of people like you. As we reflect on 40 years of service, we would love to hear why you care about Bird Rescue, and invite you to leave us a message on our Facebook page.

Thank you for supporting 40 years of life-saving work and for encouraging others to do the same!

With deepest gratitude,

Paul Kelway
Executive Director
International Bird Rescue

Hello everyone,

Thursday night was the West Coast premiere of Saving Pelican 895, the HBO documentary that Director Irene Taylor Brodsky filmed with us in Louisiana last summer during the Deepwater Horizon spill. Featured in the film, Mark Russell and I were invited to attend the premiere and participate in the Q&A session afterward. The premiere, which was in Irene’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, drew an unprecedented crowd of more than 600 guests to the auditorium of the Portland Art Museum. Earlier that day, 300 students participated in an advance screening.

The film follows the story of the 895th oiled Pelican treated during the spill from its capture to its release. Viewers recognized that 895 stood as a symbol of the care that each bird received, and were struck – and deeply moved – by the level of attention given to a single animal.

International Bird Rescue Research Center’s tagline is “every bird matters,” and the movie truly embodies this philosophy. Irene’s simple telling of this bird’s experience reminds us of the significance of the life of each and every animal that needs our care, and just how critical our work is – not just during a crisis – but every day.

We just learned that Saving Pelican 895 won the Best Documentary award at the prestigious Vail Film Festival. We would like to congratulate Irene Brodsky and HBO for their win.

The movie will have its East Coast premiere in New York on April 14, and will air on HBO beginning on April 20, the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon spill. It is my sincere hope that you will take the time to watch the film, and that you find it as meaningful as we did.

Jay Holcomb
Director Emeritus
International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)

HBO air dates and times for Saving Pelican 895

4/20/2011 9:00 p.m.
4/23/2011 12:00 p.m.
4/26/2011 12:00 a.m.
4/26/2011 5:00 p.m.
4/29/2011 6:45 a.m.
4/30/2011 5:35 a.m.
5/05/2011 2:00 p.m.

Note: Please check local listings

Media reports:

Screening of Irene Taylor Brodsky’s Saving Pelican 895 draws a full house

Filmmaker Interview: Irene Taylor Brodsky on “Saving Pelican 895”