Here is a California Brown Pelican getting an exam:



Note the yellow feathers on top of his head. He is at least five years old. Juvenile pelicans have brown feathers, darn brown heads, and dark brown eyes. This fella on the table has blue eyes, another clue that he is an adult. He is briefly uncovered while his head is examined.

Pelicans have no nostrils. They breathe through their long bills. When one is holding a pelican, with his head covered, one holds onto the bill, near the top, making sure the bill is open.

What happens after the exam depends on the species and condition of the bird.

Almost all of the birds are dehydrated, so we tube them with warm electrolyte (unflavored Pedialyte). The amount of fluid is determined by the size of the bird. Grebes and ducks get around 50cc. Pelicans get more. Hydrating a bird and keeping him warm is very important.

Aquatic birds spend most of their lives on the water. It is essential that their feathers are waterproof. Their feathers may have been contaminated by dirt, feces, etc. The bird is wrapped and carried outside to one of our warm water pools, heated to 90-95 F. If he's headed for one of these pools, we will tube him right before we put him into the pool, which is enclosed (there's a small door). I think most of the birds enjoy this water, and they paddle around and have a few drinks.

Outdoor warm water pools. The first four you see are the filtering system and beyond that are the pools themselves:



After 15 minutes or so, we will remove him, wrap him, and check the feathers on his breast. They will be surface wet, but underneath they should be dry and fluffy. If the feathers are wet next to the skin, we take him inside and put him in a net-bottomed pen (or large peli box if this is a pelican). A special fan with warm air is placed under the pen (or in the peli box). The pen is covered with a sheet, and the bird relaxes here for half an hour or so, until he is thoroughly dry. He is removed and his waterproofing is checked again.

Two grebes sharing a warm water pool:

Here are some brand new net-bottomed pens, designed by OWCN (Oiled Wildlife Care Network). There are nets stretched across the bottom of the pens. This is more comfortable for pelagic birds and also allows their feces to fall through the netting. The floors are washed often in the hospital.



The pens are in Holding 2, the large room reserved for birds contaminated in oil spills (and algae bloom spills). During an oil spill, the room is heated to 90F, to keep the birds warm. When they are coated with oil, their feathers no longer keep the birds warm.

In the video about the algae bloom birds, there are clips of both Holding 1 and Holding 2.

Sometimes people bring us birds who don't need to be rescued. These are usually fledglings, who may be on the ground.

Last summer, a Great Horned Owl fledgling was brought in. When the public brings us a bird, we get the details of when and where the bird was found, what he was fed (hopefully, nothing!), and how long the "rescuer" had the bird. Here's the owlet in ICU:



There was nothing wrong with him, so one of our staff took him back to his tree, where his worried parents were waiting.



He was placed on a branch of the tree.



Volunteers returned to the tree that evening and the next two evenings to make sure the youngster was ok. All was well, and the parents were taking care of him.

Here's an X-ray of a duck who swallowed a fishing hook. The hook was successfully removed in surgery by our veterinarian. The duck recovered and was eventually released.

Here's an interesting story:

On July 23, 1996, a hatching year Great Blue Heron, tangled in fishing line with fishing hooks embedded in its wing, was captured and brought to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA. The bird was stabilized and treated for puncture wounds from hooks and abrasions from entanglement in the fishing line. The next day the bird was brought to the International Bird Rescue Research Center’s aquatic bird rehabilitation facility in Berkeley, CA (we were there before we got our new facility in Fairfield in 2000). The bird was put on a regimen of antibiotics and treated for its wounds. It’s recovery was quick and the bird did well. On July 29, 1996 the bird was banded, number 0977-04747, and released in the Suisun Marsh in Fairfield.

Twelve years later on May 28, 2008, the same Great Blue Heron, now an adult but still wearing band number 0977-04747, was again found entangled in fishing line and fish hooks and was captured at a marina in Oakley, near Concord, CA. The bird was brought to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum which, again, did an excellent job of stabilizing it and removing the fish hooks and line that were tangled around its wing and leg. The bird was then transferred to IBRRC’s new facility in Cordelia, CA. (see attached picture) As before, it was treated for its wounds, held a week or so and on June 5, 2008 it was released healthy and strong back into the Suisun Marsh.


Great Blue Heron in rehab at IBRRC, Fairfield

California has a number of prestigious wildlife rehabilitation organizations that remain open 365 days a year to provide shelter and state of the art care for native wildlife in need of care. The Lindsey Wildlife Museum and IBRRC are two of those organizations and are considered leaders in the unique field of wildlife rehabilitation. Both organizations have worked in tandem for years to support each to provide the best care for local wildlife.

IBRRC specializes in aquatic bird rehabilitation and has specialized facilities to achieve this. The Lindsay Museum cares for many species of native wildlife including raptors, passerines, terrestrial mammals and reptiles. When IBRRC receives an owl or occasional mammal for care, we send them on to the museum for rehabilitation. In turn, they send us the aquatic birds that can benefit from our program and specialized facility. Together we have helped hundreds of animals by cooperating with each other and putting the needs of the animals first.

Great Blue Heron, band number 0977-04747, is a testament to this important relationship and the dedication of these two organizations.


Great Blue Heron released in 2008

IBRRC is headquarters for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. We have internships for rehabbers from all over the world. We also teach the latest protocols for caring for oiled wildlife. And we are invited to supervise the care of oiled wildlife all over the world. I haven't gone, but those I work with have performed this work. It can be frustrating, because to properly wash oiled wildlife we need almost an endless supply of hot water, which should be soft water, not hard water, Dawn detergent, pelagic pens, dryers, and pools for rehabilitation. We bring equipment for blood tests, too. It is a major undertaking, and other facilities help, too. IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) does a lot of excellent work.

International Bird Rescue Research Center’s rehabilitation clinics in San Pedro near Los Angeles Harbor and Fairfield, near San Francisco Bay, are currently taking in many wet and cold brown pelicans.

Like all water birds, pelicans have waterproof feathers that allow them to float and stay insulated from weather changes. Waterproof feathers also allow them to fly and plunge feed for fish. Brown pelicans tend to feed and congregate near harbors and river mouths where nutrients from the runoff attract fish and other creatures. Pelicans can easily become dirty from pollution in these areas and can lose their waterproofing. The current massive runoff from the storms has brought even more grease, car oil sheen, fish oils and other forms of surface pollution into the coastal areas where these birds feed. Many brown pelicans have been found soaking wet and hypothermic. Since the storms keep coming, one after another, the wet birds do not have time to dry off and feed, and they succumb to hypothermia.

The silver lining in this scenario is that the majority of these birds respond very well to being washed and rehabilitated.

As of January 26, IBRRC's San Pedro Center has received a total of 130 non-oiled birds since the beginning of last week's storms. 107 of these birds were pelicans. In addition, 9 oiled birds from natural seep and 6 oiled birds from the spill in Huntington Beach have been received.

IBRRC's Fairfield Center has now received 60 pelicans and expect more in the coming days. A number of ducks (including buffleheads and canvasbacks) have also arrived, some that have been shot and others downed by the storms.


Male Bufflehead