Like many former interns, Helena Echenique’s time at Bird Rescue helped shape a lasting career in animal care. Today, Helena serves as the Ambassador Animal Programs Coordinator at the Oakland Zoo, where she combines her love of animal care and conservation education by working with permanent resident ambassador animals that inspire people to protect wildlife.
As International Bird Rescue celebrates 55 years of protecting birds in a changing world, Saving a Generation: The Long Beach Harbor Seabird Nesting Crisis looks back on one of the organization’s defining conservation efforts.
Our newest featured photographer is Rick Lewis from Alameda, CA. Several of his Elegant Tern photographs have been featured throughout International Bird Rescue’s 55th anniversary campaign, celebrating the species chosen as our anniversary bird.
Four weeks after helping save a Brown Pelican entangled in fishing gear, 13-year-old Leo Batres Montoya reunited with and released the healthy bird back to the ocean.
This season, International Bird Rescue has cared for shorebirds from a range of habitats and circumstances. Together, their stories offer a glimpse into the challenges these birds face during the nesting season and the efforts that help support them along the way.
A California Least Tern, an endangered species, was admitted to International Bird Rescue after being found at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach unable to take flight.
Right now, the teams at International Bird Rescue’s two California wildlife centers are responding to an extraordinary set of challenges: seabirds struggling during a prolonged starvation event, the annual spring influx of baby birds, and an active oil spill response in Los Angeles.
Herons’ striking appearance make them hard to miss, and when one of these birds is in trouble, communities often step in. These three rescue stories highlight how people came together to help herons in need.
Danene Birtell’s path into wildlife rescue began unexpectedly on a South African shoreline during a devastating oil spill, where a formative first response sparked a lifelong career in oiled wildlife rehabilitation. Now, more than two decades later, she returns to International Bird Rescue as Preparedness Manager.
In order to face ongoing threats, Bird Rescue has evolved into a global conservation organization. To better describe this change, we adopt the tagline that has grown quietly alongside our work: For Birds in a Changing World.
Shifting ocean conditions make it harder to find food, and weakened birds often end up in dangerous situations, tangled in fishing line or far from the coast.
In some years, changes in ocean conditions ripple quickly through the California Brown Pelican population, sending waves of weakened birds to wildlife rehabilitation centers along the coast. The exact cause of these influxes is not yet clear, but it reflects a larger story about birds in a changing world.
During the Ventura oil incident in November 2025, responders Dan Vega and Alex Carver faced an unusual challenge. An oiled grebe was surrounded by sea lions, making a typical capture impossible. Watch the animated reenactment to see how it all happened.
Each week of March, Bird Rescue will spotlight a featured collection of merch created to celebrate the beauty, resilience, and spirit of birds.
Bird Rescue is proud to partner with the California Bird Atlas to support the state’s first comprehensive statewide Breeding Bird Atlas.
As we mark 55 years of taking action for birds in a changing world, we are proud to name the Elegant Tern as our anniversary bird.
Jennifer Martines, Senior Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician for International Bird Rescue, has always carried a big dream: to travel the world and help wildlife wherever she is needed. Most recently, that dream carried her to South Korea, where she attended a wildlife conference.
There was no established system for oiled bird rehabilitation. No shared protocols. No coordinated response. People were simply moved to take action. That instinct to act became the foundation of International Bird Rescue.