New Paper Published:

Caspian Terns Saved, Rehabilitated, and Released by International Bird Rescue are Surviving and Breeding

Bird Rescue’s newly published scientific paper detailing the rescue-and-rehabilitation effort of waterbirds highlights a notable success: the post-release survival and breeding of a group of Caspian Terns in Southern California.

The research paper was co-authored by Julie Skoglund, Rebecca Duerr, DVM MPVM PhD, both of International Bird Rescue, and Dr. Charlie Collins, Professor Emeritus at California State University of Long Beach.

The story began in 2006 and 2007 in the Port of Long Beach, one of the busiest shipping ports on the west coast and near a favored breeding colony locale for both Caspian and Elegant Terns in southern California. In both years, disastrous events threatened the lives of tern chicks born in the Port of Long Beach.

In 2006, workers cleaning the deck of a barge deliberately flushed Caspian Tern chicks-too young to survive independently-into the Pacific Ocean. In 2007, suspected human disturbances caused another group of tern chicks to wind up floundering in the water. Fortunately, Bird Rescue was able to rescue some of these young birds and take them into care at its Los Angeles Wildlife Center.

To understand how we solved the challenges of rehabilitating these terns, please read Survival and Recruitment of Rehabilitated Caspian Terns in Southern California.

The final paper was published in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, May 2020.

Also read: Full research paper blog post and Rare Tern Colony Decimated in Long Beach, CA

More Bird Rescue Published Research Papers:

Bamac OE, Rogers KH, Arranz-Solís D, Saeij JPJ, Lewis L, Duerr R, Skoglund J, Peronne L, Mete A. 2020.Protozoal encephalitis associated with Sarcocystis calchasi and S. falcatula during an epizootic involving Brandt’s cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) in coastal Southern California, USA. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 12: 185-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.06.005

Horgan MD, Siksay SE, Knych HK, Duerr RS. (in press 2020). Pharmacokinetics of a single dose of oral meloxicam in Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis). Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery.

Piatt JF, Parrish JK, Renner HM, Schoen SK, Jones TT, Arimitsu ML, Kuletz KJ, Bodenstein B, García-Reyes M, Duerr RS, Corcoran RM, Kaler RSA, McChesney GJ, Golightly RT, Coletti HA, Suryan RM, Burgess HK, Lindsey J, Lindquist K, Warzybok PM, Jahncke J, Roletto J, Sydeman WJ. 2020. Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of Common Murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0226087. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226087

Skoglund JM, Duerr RS, Collins, C. 2020. Survival and recruitment of rehabilitated Caspian Terns in southern California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 119(1): 1-5. Available at: https://scholar.oxy.edu/handle/20.500.12711/10544

Duerr RS. 2018. Successful surgical management of pouch and bill injuries in pelicans. Pp. 363-367 in Proceedings of the Association of Avian Veterinarians annual conference at ExoticsCon, Sept. 22-27, 2018, Atlanta, GA.

Gibble C, Duerr R, Bodenstein B, Lindquist K, Lindsey J, Beck J, Henkel L, Roletto J, Harvey J, and R Kudela. 2018. Investigation of a largescale Common Murre (Uria aalge) mortality event in California in 2015. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 54(3):569-574. https://doi.org/10.7589/2017-07-179

Duerr RS and KC Klasing. 2017. Effects of added lipids on digestibility and nitrogen balance in oiled Common Murres (Uria aalge) and Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) fed four formulations of a critical care diet. Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 31(2): 132-141.

Duerr RS. 2016. Surgical repair of keel lesions and lacerations in aquatic birds. Pp. 83-88 in Proceedings of the Association of Avian Veterinarians annual conference at ExoticsCon, Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2016, Portland OR.

Duerr RS, Ziccardi MH, and JG Massey. 2016. Investigation into mortalities during treatment: Factors affecting oiled Common Murre (Uria aalge) survival to release through rehabilitation. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 52(3): 495-505. https://doi.org/10.7589/2015-03-054

Duerr RS and KC Klasing. 2015. Tissue component and organ mass changes associated with declines in body mass in three seabird species received for rehabilitation in California. Marine Ornithology. 43(1): 11-18. http://marineornithology.org/PDF/43_1/43_1_11-18.pdf

Gaynor AS, Fish S, Duerr RS, Dela Cruz Jr. FN, and P Pesavento. 2015. Identification of a novel papillomavirus in a Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) with viral production in cartilage. Veterinary Pathology 52(3):553-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985814542812

Li L, Pesavento PA, Gaynor AM, Duerr RS, Phan TG, Zhang W, Deng X, and E Delwart. 2015. A gyrovirus infecting a sea bird. Archives of Virology. 160(8): 2105-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2468-1

Humple D.L. and Holcomb J. 2014. Winter movements of Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes: Insight from band recoveries. North American Bird Bander 39(1): 21-28. For full text click here

Duerr RS. 2013. Investigation into the Nutritional Condition and Digestive Capabilities of Seabirds during Rehabilitation in California. PhD Dissertation. University of California, Davis. 119 pp.

Ruoppolo V., E.J. Woehler, K Morgan, and C.J. Clumpner. 2012. Wildlife and Oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster. Polar Record 48:1-13.

Duerr RS, Massey JG, Ziccardi MH, and YN Addassi. 2011. Physical effects of Prudhoe Bay crude oil water accommodated fractions (WAF) and Corexit 9500 chemically enhanced water accommodated fractions (CEWAF) on Common Murre feathers and California sea otter hair. California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Scientific Study and Evaluation Program, Report 2007-01. 12 pp.

Phillips EM, Zamon JE, Nevins HM, Gibble C, Duerr R, and L Kerr. 2011. Summary of birds killed by a harmful algal bloom along south Washington and north Oregon coasts during October 2009. Northwestern Naturalist 92(2):120-126. https://doi.org/10.1898/10-32.1

Nevins H., M. Miller, L. Henkel, D. Jessup, N. Carion, C. Meteyer, K. Schuler, J. St. Leger, L. Woods, Skoglund J. and D. Jaques. 2011. Summary of unusual stranding events affecting Brown Pelican along the US Pacific Coast during two winters, 2008-09 and 2009-10. Final Report, Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center, Santa Cruz, CA.30 pp. For full text go here

Phillips E.M., J.E. Zamon, H.M. Nevins, C. Gibble, R. Duerr, and L. Kerr. 2011. Summary of birds killed by a harmful algal bloom along south Washington and north Oregon coasts during October 2009. Northwestern Naturalist 92(2):120-126. For full text go here

Holcomb J. Overview of bird search and rescue, response efforts during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings: March 1991, Vol. 1991, No. 1, pp. 225-228. For full text go here

Other papers of interest:

Henkel LA, Ziccardi MH. 2018. Life and death: How should we respond to oiled wildlife? Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 9(1):296-301; e1944-687X. doi:10.3996/062017-JFWM-054. https://fwspubs.org/doi/full/10.3996/062017-JFWM-054

Newman, SH, RT Golightly, EN Craig, HR Carter and C Kreuder. 2004. The effects of petroleum exposure and rehabilitation on post-release survival, behavior and blood indices: A Common Murre (Uria aalge) case study following the Stuyvesant petroleum spill. Final Report. Oiled Wildlife Care Network, Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1 Shields Ave, Davis CA 95616. 46 pp. Read full report