International Bird Rescue

Photo by Cheryl Reynolds

Photo by Michelle Bellizzi

This male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) was recently sent to us from a rehabilitation group in Arizona that was unfamiliar with the species and lacked appropriate water caging. “The bird was found to have a fractured clavicle, a wound on its wing and foot lesions,” says Michelle Bellizzi, center manager of International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay center. “The foot lesions were likely the result of captivity. It was the fractured clavicle and wing injury that brought it into care.” After several weeks of rehabilitation at our center, this bird was released nearby.

The Red-breasted Merganser is one of three species of mergansers in North America. Known for their thin, serrated bills to catch fish prey, Red-breasted Mergansers are “bold world traveler[s], plying icy waters where usually only scoters and eiders dare to tread,” 10,000 Birds notes. “While all mergansers are swift fliers, the Red-breast holds the avian record for fastest level-flight at 100 mph.”

A close-up of the Red-breasted Merganser’s serrated, “toothy” bill. Photo by Dr. Rebecca Duerr.

Below, the merganser is released back into the wild.

Photo by Nicole Maclennan

During this past winter, a number of California Brown Pelicans were reported to have traveled well north of their usual habitat – British Columbia, to be exact.

Several of these birds settled in Victoria’s inner harbour, and three were found to have parasites, frostbite, and in the case of one pelican, wounds that may have been from fishing hook injuries.

After weeks of planning and the securing of appropriate permits, the birds were flown south via commercial jet cargo to International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles wildlife care center, which is equipped with the large aviaries necessary to successfully treat aquatic birds of this size. These pelicans were released at Terranea Resort in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes on April 20, 2013.

Photos and video by Bill Steinkamp. Music by Wired Ant. View the full-size video here.

Find out how you can get involved with pelicans through our Pelican Partner program.

This Great Egret (Ardea alba) was treated for multiple wing fracture and a leg wound in spring 2013. Here, Los Angeles center manager Julie Skoglund releases the bird. Video by Dr. Rebecca Duerr.

In these trying times, an image of simple compassion and care can have a profound effect on the viewer. Here’s one that recently moved us:

This past weekend, International Bird Rescue rehabilitation technician Kelly Berry released five Common Murres at the Malibu Pier. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that our Los Angeles center received a heavy influx of oiled seabirds earlier this year, mostly Common Murres that were found beached along the Southern California coast.

Our favorite detail of this release: “Once all of the birds were in the ocean, they jointly made the signature Murre call and headed out to the open ocean,” Berry reports. “This photo was their last look at the shore.”

Thanks to Kelly’s husband, Paul, for taking such a memorable shot.

See more on the murre influx from winter 2013 here.

East Bay Regional Park District supervising naturalist and KQED QUEST contributor Sharol Nelson-Embry recently wrote a blog post on this Common Loon, found wrapped in fishing line by park visitor Martha Ashton-Sikora. Upon transfer to International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay center, X-rays later showed this bird had also swallowed a hook (both are common predicaments we see in our bird patients).

Fellow park district supervising naturalist James Frank recently sent us these photos of the loon’s release at Crown Memorial State Beach. Above, Ashton-Sikora, IBR volunteer Dawn Furseth and Trevor, a staffer with East Bay Regional Park District, give the loon a great send-off. Thanks, team!

As you may have read recently on this blog, our Los Angeles center has had a busy season with oiled Common Murres — medium-sized seabirds that nest on rocky cliffs. Natural oil seepage off the Santa Barbara coast is to blame; because these oiled birds are affected by natural causes rather than a human-caused oil spill, the high cost of rehabilitating these animals falls largely on IBR and other area wildlife groups.

We’re pleased to report that we’ve rehabilitated many of these birds and have begun releasing them back to the wild.

Last week, volunteer photographer/videographer Bill Steinkamp filmed evaluations and releases of three such Common Murres. Here, staff rehab technician Kylie Clatterbuck and intern Andrea Murrieta check waterproofing and band a murre ready for release.

Double-crested Cormorant photo by IBR intern Sean MacDonald; inset photo © P. Wallerstein, MAR/Friends of Animals.

Good news!

International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles center recently received into care this Double-crested Cormorant, found hanging in a tree net in Marina del Rey and rescued by L.A. County Fire Department Station 110.

The bird had a drooping wing upon intake, but we’re very pleased to report it responded extremely well to care and was recently released in San Pedro by our intern and volunteer team.

Also released: this Brant Goose (shown below), which came to our L.A. center oiled and suffering from bilateral injuries; and several Western Grebes — all eager to return to the open water.

Nice work, team!

Brant Goose release by Sean MacDonald. Inset photo of Brant Goose in IBR’s care.

Double-crested Cormorant after release!

Western Grebe release

Western Grebe releases

Western Grebe release

Release photos courtesy Sean MacDonald

Photos by Cheryl Reynolds

A few weeks ago, we wrote about two juvenile Western Gulls who were saved thanks to the fast action of the Vallejo Police, the U.S. Coast Guard and International Bird Rescue staff. The gulls were spotted at the Vallejo Marina entangled together in fishing line, mired in mud and facing a rising tide that would have drowned them.

One of the birds had a severely swollen wing and a foot injury requiring surgery. As both birds were caked in mud upon intake, they received warm baths, pain medication, antibiotics and lots of fish.

The free fish and caring treatments didn’t endear them to staff and volunteers, however. “It was apparent that once they started to feel better, not only didn’t they like each other, but also they didn’t like being around us, fish or no fish,” said Michelle Bellizzi, rehabilitation manager at International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Area center in Cordelia. “They didn’t even look back when they were released!”

The gull with lesser complications was released last week, while the other that had undergone surgery was released earlier this week at Ft. Baker.

Special thanks to the Coast Guard and Mike Jory of the Vallejo Times-Herald for documenting their rescue and bringing front-page attention to the misery that fishing tackle can cause birds and other marine animals.

This Laysan Albatross was recently evaluated and released by International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles wildlife care center team. Photos by Paul Berry.

“Big birds in big oceans, albatrosses lead big, sprawling lives across space and time, traveling to the limits of seemingly limitless seas,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Safina wrote in the 2002 classic Eye of the Albatross. “They accomplish these distances by wielding the impressive — wondrous, really — body architecture of creatures built to glide indefinitely.”

Seeing these magnificent animals up close, it’s not difficult to see where Safina got the inspiration for this prose.

Though Laysan Albatrosses breed primarily in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a breeding colony exists on Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, located off the coast of Baja California and more than 200 miles due south of Los Angeles (see map right). They are occasionally seen at our Los Angeles center, sometimes having been found as “stowaways” on cargo ships.

On Saturday, an animal control officer brought to us a Laysan Albatross wrapped in a towel; the bird had been taken to the San Pedro Animal Shelter by an unidentified member of the public.

The albatross in a pelagic pool at International Bird Rescue prior to release.

This albatross was given a full evaluation by staff. Deemed healthy, it was placed in an outdoor pelagic pool overnight, and the following day, the albatross was banded and loaded into a crate for release.

In the video below, International Bird Rescue rehabilitation technician Kelly Berry releases the albatross past the breakwaters with the help of the lifeguards at Cabrillo Beach.

“Not only is it an absolutely beautiful bird, but it was a beautiful sight to watch it fly off toward the open ocean,” Berry notes. “Overall, it was a success.”

Nearly a year ago to the day, our L.A. center released an albatross that had been a stowaway on a ship. Read more on this previous patient here.

Photo by Cheryl Reynolds (inset photo of grebe being treated for fish hook injuries by Isabel Luevano)

A few weeks ago, we posted about a Western Grebe brought to our San Francisco Bay Area wildlife center with hook injuries in her back, leg and mouth. As you can see from the photo above, we’re happy to report this beautiful bird is doing much better!

Also, this oiled Brant Goose (left) is being treated for bilateral injuries at our Los Angeles wildlife care center, while this Red-necked Grebe (right), found injured and grounded in Penngrove, Calif., was released back to the wild Saturday.

Check out our latest count of birds in care here.

Brant Goose (left) photo by Dr. Rebecca Duerr; Red-necked Grebe photo by Cheryl Reynolds