60 chicks and eggs rescued from fallen tree in Marina del Rey, now in care at Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center
More than 60 bird eggs and chicks were rescued from a failing tree in Marina del Rey and are now receiving intensive care at the International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center The birds in care are of a tree-nesting species called Double-crested Cormorants. Bird Rescue is asking the public to support the feeding and care of these wild birds.
Some of the birds have already hatched and many more are being incubated after 20 nests were proactively removed from a wind-damaged eucalyptus tree in Chase Park. Thanks to a coordinated effort between the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH) and Bird Rescue, the nests with eggs and chicks were gently removed by a trained wildlife biologist and delivered on March 10, 2025 to our center located in San Pedro.
In a statement from DBH it said: “Strong winds damaged a eucalyptus tree in Burton Chace Park in early March, leading to the collapse of a large trunk and the impending failure of the rest of the tree. Unfortunately, the tree was a popular nesting spot for cormorants, but the growing cracks along its remaining trunk, instability at its base due to the recent trunk collapse, and location next to a public walkway and parking lot meant it needed quick removal to protect visitors and wildlife.”
Double-crested Cormorants are colonial nesters, and many of the rescued nests have three to four eggs in them. The eggs are likely at various stages since they were taken from a number of different nests. Cormorant parents take turns incubating the eggs over a month-long process.
The feeding of hatchlings is a delicate and time-consuming process. The clinic staff is working into the night each day helping raise these birds. Many of the rescued chicks may be in care for up to three months.
Bird Rescue has a long history of responding to wildlife crises, including past events in Northern California that included the rescue of heron and egret chicks when their rookery tree partially collapsed in downtown Oakland in 2019 and a cormorant chick rescue from electrical transmission towers in 2022.
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