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 … Read more
RPV TV in Rancho Palos Verdes recently visited International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles center in nearby San Pedro for a great story on our day-to-day rehabilitation work. Thanks to station manager Mark Doddy and his team for a comprehensive segment!
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 … Read more
An oiled Common Murre up for a wash. Photos and video by Bill Steinkamp, all rights reserved. On a recent afternoon, a team of staff and volunteers at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles wildlife care center had their hands full with oiled Common Murres and Western Grebes in need of a wash. Over the past … Read more
Common Murre release, video by Jeff Robinson, who volunteers at International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Area center.
A Pacific Loon treated at International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Area center. Photo by Jeff Robinson. It may be hard to believe, but we have actually had injured birds come to us, like a gull that once landed on the roof of our Los Angeles center impaled by a gigantic, three-pronged fishing lure. But … Read more
Barnacle Geese over Tantallon Castle, Scotland. Photo courtesy Discovery Channel. With campaign season cacophony in full gear on the airwaves, we’re looking forward to a bit of wildlife respite this weekend with the Saturday premiere of Winged Planet, an innovative documentary on the lives of birds around the world. A co-production of the BBC … Read more
Hat tip to Yéssica Lopes, a journalist with Diário Popular, for sending us this wrap-up from the recent Latin-American Conference on Marine Wildlife Rehabilitation. Lopes and co-producer Roberto Zambonato interviewed leaders in the field, including Jay Holcomb, International Bird Rescue’s executive director emeritus.
The din of Common Murres, accompanied by Gregory Alan Isakov’s “Stable Song.” Perfection. Video by Mike Johns.
Monofilament fishing line pollution poses a problem to myriad aquatic species. For birds, the injuries that can result aren’t limited to swallowed hooks: Fishing line entanglement can severely impact a bird’s ability to fly and feed, and deeply embedded entanglement can mean amputation if the bird is lucky enough to be taken into care. It’s … Read more