There’s no greater feeling as a wildlife professional than to see one of your former patients back in the is wild thriving – especially nearly 6 years later. A case in point is a Brown Pelican with blue band X39.
On June 24, 2022 the 100th Brown Pelican was among the 12 seabirds released by International Bird Rescue back to the wild at White Point Park in San Pedro.
Nearly four years after release from our Los Angeles wildlife center, a former patient – a blue-banded Brown Pelican – was spotted on Santa Barbara Island, caring for a young pelican.
The beginning of 2010 was not a good time for California Brown Pelicans. As rough winter weather pounded the west coast, it hampered the seabird’s ability to forage for food.
This story spans eight years and crosses international borders – all wrapped up in the journey of International Bird Rescue’s most famous former patient and parent, a California Brown Pelican banded E17 after his rehabilitation in 2010 at our Los Angeles center. E17 created quite a buzz when he was spotted for the third time … Read more
Editor’s Note: Thank you to our long time employee, Suzie Kosina, for preparing this piece. When we release our rehabilitated patients, we often wish them “good luck” on their way back to life in the wild. While the superstitious might prefer “break a leg”, we know all too well the very real risk these … Read more
Connor Mathews was a junior majoring in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology at the University of Nevada, Reno, when he started his internship, sponsored by the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation (HCBF), at Bird Rescue. He had already volunteered with Bird Rescue, so he was very familiar with the clinic and the birds we care for. Eager … Read more
Earlier this month, a Brown Pelican with the blue band “N39” came back into care, after two previous stays with us. This individual, who was last in care in last July for an abdominal puncture and a toe injury, was released last summer after those wounds healed. He first arrived in care nearly seven years … Read more
Our Blue-banded Pelican Program has become important to a lot of pelican enthusiasts who like the idea of connecting with California Brown Pelicans as individuals with personal histories. But to Bart Selby, connecting in this way seems like a calling of the highest order. This self-described Brown Pelican fan has become one of the super-reporters … Read more
We take a lot of pride in our bird-banding program — especially when we get reports on birds sighted hundreds of miles from their release point. A case in point is P63, a female hatch-year Brown Pelican. P63 was found stranded in June 2014 in Santa Cruz and treated at our San Francisco Bay Center … Read more