Burrowing Owl, photo by Magnus Manske/Wikimedia Commons As a Master Bander since 1979, I’ve banded a lot of birds — most of them are the aquatic birds that we rehabilitate at our centers in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay. But I also support the local rehabbers when I can by banding birds that … Read more
We’re happy to report that this Elegant Tern covered recently on the blog has been successfully rehabilitated at our San Francisco Bay center. We released the bird Tuesday afternoon in the East Bay near the location of several recent Elegant Tern sightings via eBird. Check out the release video below. Photos by Cheryl Reynolds.
Black Rail, photo by Cheryl Reynolds Last week’s “Patient of the Week” on Facebook garnered a lot of attention from our fans: a Black Rail brought to us with a leg fracture and other injuries consistent with a likely domestic cat attack. After a successful rehabilitation at our San Francisco Bay center, the bird was … Read more
Photo by Cheryl Reynolds If you’ve been to our BirdCam Project page lately, you may have seen this Red-necked Phalarope. On August 29, the bird came into care at our San Francisco Bay center not holding its wing in a normal posture, and X-rays revealed a fractured coracoid. The wing was wrapped, and the bird … Read more
Photos by Bill Steinkamp Human cruelty incidents against Brown Pelicans are among the most heartbreaking cases our wildlife team sees. As this seminal 1992 Los Angeles Times article on the problem shows so vividly, such cruelty is longstanding, and unfortunately it continues to this day. But such stories sometimes have happy endings. Over the weekend, … Read more
Photo by Bill Steinkamp Last week, we wrote about a juvenile Blue-footed Booby brought to our Los Angeles center after it was found wandering in a South L.A. neighborhood. This is one of many such birds seen along the California coast, where they are rare visitors. Many experts believe that the birds are coming north … Read more
A Great Blue Heron leaping to freedom when released at Ballona Creek, photo by Kylie Clatterbuck If you love Great Blue Herons, we know you’ll fully appreciate the resiliency of one amazing bird recently in our care. A few months ago, International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles center received a heron with dual misfortunes: It was … Read more
Photos by Kelly Berry International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles center has recently cared for two rails — marsh-dwelling birds of the family Rallidae. One is a Virginia Rail, the other, shown above, a Sora. A member of the public brought in this Sora in early September, having found the bird in a backyard pool. Thankfully, … Read more
As of Tuesday, our Los Angeles center in the San Pedro neighborhood had 34 Brown Pelicans in care. Many more had been released last week by our team of staff and volunteers, as shown here in this video by volunteer photographer Bill Steinkamp. Become a member at today and help support the care of these … Read more
[easingsliderlite] Photos and video by Bill Steinkamp As we’ve detailed earlier this summer, International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles center had received dozens of orphaned gull chicks into care from fellow wildlife organizations. In the slideshow above, you can see many of these birds growing up at the center — leading up to their release in … Read more