This year at International Bird Rescue, we have cared for over 3,400 birds and counting! We have selected five of our favorite patients from 2019, but we need your help to decide which will be Patient of the Year! Take a look at their stories below, and then click the vote button to let us know which one you like best!
Baby Lesser Flamingo
International Bird Rescue sent two teams to South Africa to help care for baby Lesser Flamingos abandoned due to severe drought conditions in the area. The little flamingos had to be carefully hand fed and receive regular checkups to monitor their development.
This little flamingo was the smallest one in the flock at the rescue station where Center Manager, Kylie Clatterbuck, was stationed. She gave him special attention and made sure he was getting plenty to eat and growing up as well as all of the others.
Bird Rescue was happy to be able to help our partners on the opposite side of the globe as they took action to rescue these birds in crisis!
Oakland Heronry Rescue: Black-crowned Night-Heron
This Black-crowned Night-Heron was rescued when Bird Rescue team members rushed to the scene of a fallen heronry tree in downtown Oakland in July of this year. He was brought to our SF Bay-Delta wildlife center along with 89 other young herons and egrets and raised in our care.
A voracious eater from day one, this little one quickly began gaining weight. As he grew, our staff carefully monitored his progress and provided him with daily nutritional supplements to make sure he was developing properly.
After more than a month in care, this young Black-crowned Night-Heron was successfully returned to his natural home in the wild!
Baby Western Grebe
This fuzzy Western Grebe hatchling stole everyone’s hearts when it arrived at our wildlife center. While we care for hundreds of adult Western Grebes each year, their babies are very rare patients for us.
This unusual patient required our team of staff and volunteers to be innovative with care techniques and housing setups because they had to balance the baby’s need for food and interaction with her need to stay wild and maintain perfectly waterproof feathers.
All of the hard work and creativity paid off as the baby grebe was soon full grown and ready to return to the wild. Our team drove this special patient up to Santa Barbara where she had originally been found to release her near a large flock of fellow grebes.
Laysan Albatross
Albatross were on our minds this year as 2019 began with our Executive Director, JD Bergeron, assisting in the 2019 Nesting Albatross Census on Midway Atoll.
Much to our surprise, a Laysan Albatross was brought to our wildlife center in Southern California in April after it had been found stowing away on a boat. After a brief stay and a few good meals, the albatross looked to be in excellent shape and was ready for release.
Laysan Albatross need to be released out at sea, so we teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard to take this special patient out on a boat and return it to its natural home in the wild. See a video of the release HERE!
Brown Pelican
In September, an adult female Brown Pelican was brought to us with a gruesome bilateral pouch laceration. With her pouch hanging in tatters and the back of her mouth laid open, she was unable to feed and would have soon starved to death had help not come along.
Our veterinarian, Dr. Rebecca Duerr, has repaired scores of pouch lacerations over the years, from simple straight cuts to complicated shredded messes. Her experience treating these types of injuries helped this pelican’s repair and healing go exactly as planned, and this gorgeous bird healed her devastating wound like a champ.
After two surgical procedures and a few weeks of recuperation, this Brown Pelican was successfully released, now sporting a bright blue band reading “Y41”.
Three (3) lucky voters will be selected to receive a FREE Bird Rescue 2020 calendar! Vote and enter your mailing address.
