On a recent afternoon at the Golden Gate Recreation Area’s Ft. Baker, International Bird Rescue released its 1,000th Blue-Banded Pelican, with wonderful help from bird lover Ken Blum and his family! #ROO, a juvenile, was released alongside a fellow juvenile pelican. Surrounded by porpoises, gulls, cormorants, grebes and sea lions at Ft. Baker, the two … Read more
Little Blue Penguin in the Rena Spill, photo by Curt Clumpner By Barbara Callahan, International Bird Rescue In the early morning hours of October 5, 2011, the MV Rena, a large cargo ship carrying 1,368 containers, struck a reef in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty, spilling several hundred metric tons of heavy fuel and … Read more
With the one-year anniversary of the Rena Oil Spill nearing, we received good news in our inbox from New Zealand a few days back on a trio of Little Blue Penguins oiled by a recent diesel spill. Here’s the news release, courtesy Bryce Lawrence of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council: Penguins Safely Returned Home Hawke’s Bay … Read more
Phalaropes have been washing up along the shoreline and coming in to International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Center, unable to stand. Once stabilized, the Phalaropes have been receiving tube feedings, as it is very hard to get this species to eat on their own. They are then moved to an indoor, cool water hospital pool, … Read more
This adult Sora Rail arrived at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Center with a fractured wing and a leg injury that prevented him from standing upright or even putting weight on the wounded limb. He also had a small hole in his left, upper mandible, and was reported by his rescuer to have been cat … Read more
It’s been an extremely busy summer for both International Bird Rescue’s wildlife care centers in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. But while Brown Pelicans have recently taken up most of the spotlight (as well as the fish), we continue to care for all types of aquatic birds — seabirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, you … Read more
The brown pelican named “Gigi” that landed and halted traffic in August on the Golden Gate Bridge was released released back to the wild on Friday, September 12. The young bird was rescued and transferred to International Bird Rescue where it has been recuperating for the past several weeks. Watch: Brown Pelican captured on Golden … Read more
Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director reports on a 12-year-old Great Blue Heron that has been given two chances at surviving in this rough and tumble world: “Back on July 23, 1996 a Great Blue Heron, tangled in fishing line with fishing hooks embedded in its wing was captured and brought to the Alexander Lindsay Museum … Read more
California Brown Pelicans continue to endure human abuse A young female California brown pelican, who endured three surgeries and hundreds of stitches to repair her pouch, finally was set free on Thursday, September 23, 2004. Found in the Redondo Beach area, her pouch slit from ear to ear, “Slash” spent two months in rehabilitation at … Read more