[…]steps as nearly 200 birds admitted to care center The Times-Standard 7/29/2012 Pelicans and fish waste don’t mix Oiled Wildlife Care Network (blog) 7/28/2012 Brown Pelicans in Trouble! The EcoNews, Northcoast Environment Center 7/2012 Déjà Rescue The North Coast Journal 7/19/2012 Brown Pelicans dying from fish oil contamination; Humboldt nonprofits rescue 70 birds, more expected Redwood Times 7/17/2012 Fish scraps are deadly to birds, officials warn Del Norte Triplicate 7/16/2012 Brown pelicans dying from fish oil contamination The Times-Standard 7/14/2012 From Humboldt Wildlife Care Center: Pelicans Dying, Again UPDATED Lost Coast Outpost 7/12/2012 What We Can Learn From Starving Pelicans […]
[…]means that a spill the size of the recent Refugio spill would generate around a million pounds of waste. Those numbers don’t even include the enormous amount of waste generated during the cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife, but I image the ratio is the same, or maybe even more. Anyone who has worked a spill lately has seen the barrels full of empty Dawn bottles, mountains of waste from food, water bottles, packaging, gloves and PPE. I don’t even want to talk about the water. All of it amounts to incredible amount of waste when there are a lot […]
[…]released 3 months later. photo Laura Corsiglia/BAX visit Project Coyote California Department of Fish and Wildlife California Fish and Game Commission Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife new definition of terms for California Fish and Game Code Adaptive management means management that improves the management of biological resources over time by using new information gathered through monitoring, evaluation, and other credible sources as they become available, and adjusts management strategies and practices to assist in meeting conservation and management goals. Under adaptive management, program actions are viewed as tools for learning to inform future actions. Credible science means the best […]
[…]out of our very small facility in Bayside. Trying to get the discharge pipe that was spewing fish waste into the water of Shelter Cove stopped was very frustrating. While some modifications were made, the outflow continued. It wasn’t until Brown Pelicans left the area and headed north that the contaminations stopped. (read about our 2012 efforts) The discharge pipe at Shelter Cove – July 2012 (photo Daniel Corona/Bird Ally X) Dead contaminated Brown Pelican – July 2012 (photo: Drew Hyland/Bird Ally X) Brown Pelican released at Shelter Cove, September 2011 (photo: Laura Corsiglia/BAX) Now, two years later, we are […]
[…]put in place in regional harbors to prevent birds continuing to suffer contamination with oily fish waste. Thank you to the many community members who stepped up to help these pelicans make it back to live their wild lives. Documentary Film Some of our work in the North Coast Fish Waste Incident is dramatically featured in the documentary film Pelican Dreams, directed by Judy Irving of Pelican […]
[…]bird” was ours no more. Now s/he was her own bird, just as s/he always had been. Looking of fish A colleague! An adult in background A fish for a youngster? Happy wildlife caregivers enjoying the beauty of their work An adult Brown Pelican does a flyby Sandpipers on the wing across the Jaws Your help is needed. The specialized care that seabirds require is made possible by your contribution. Please help us help wild wild animals in distress. Give today. all photographs: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally […]
[…]we’d rescued, cleaned and rehabilitated over 50 Pelicans who’d been contaminated by fish waste. Fish waste going directly into the ocean at the public boat launch in Shelter Cove, California. Brown Pelicans and other birds were contaminated directly by this unorthodox waste disposal. In order to meet that challenge, Bird Ally X partnered with the local wildlife care center, who we’d been assisting in small ways for years. With the facility they had in Bayside, we built the necessary infrastructure to take care of aquatic birds in Humboldt County – allowing for the first time in HWCC history for injured […]
[…]than adults, so our patient no longer needed to grow, only learn. We provided a pool with live fish fso the Heron could learn to hunt, an aviary big enough for improving flight, and perches and grasses so that the heron’s inherited desire to hide could be satisfied. After three weeks, the young bird was eating all the fish we offered and had lost the last of the downy nestling feathers. All that was left was release. We released the Green Heron into excellent habitat not far from the original nest site. It’s quite possible that the bird’s parents and […]
[…]the Heron was housed in our largest flight aviary. We set up a small pool with live gold fish. These birds are expert fishers and this one needed to learn the trade. S/he quickly became very proficient at snagging the quick fish from the water. After 6 weeks of care, the bird was flying, fishing, and demonstrating a seething hatred for humans: each of these a crucial part of surviving the modern world. The young Heron was released at the Arcata Marsh, where the colony where s/he entered the world roosts year round. Your support makes rescue of birds like […]
[…]spills, harmful algal blooms (often caused by agricultural “run-off”, sewage, fish waste. The wounds we’ve seen look like predator bites. Our working hypothesis is that sea lions are hunting these birds for food, or what seems more likely is that these grebes were bitten while pursuing fish in the same school with sea lions. There is precedent for marine birds injured by Sea lions while foraging. Whatever the case, currently we have no direct observations or conclusive results. The prognosis for the two birds in care is hopeful. While their wounds are severe they are healing and all other aspects […]