We received more than 300 seabirds coated in the East Bay Mystery Goo and one particular Horned Grebe, dubbed by our clinic staff as “Gummy Bear”, really made an impression.
“Gummy Bear” was brought to our San Francisco Bay Center three weeks ago during the first wave of East Bay birds contaminated by the stick goo. In the video to the right, you can see that even the towel used to rescue the bird had to be carefully peeled off the bird’s matted feathers.
After cleaning the messy gunk from its feathers, it was discovered that this bird had abrasions to its elbows. After healing, this Horned Grebe, called “Gummy Bear” was released on February 12.
By the way, we don’t usually name our birds in care, but in this case it just stuck.
See earlier post: Mystery substance threatens seabirds in the San Francisco Bay
