How a Pelican Changed My Life -Must Read!

and views from international bird rescue

December 9, 2012

How a Pelican Changed My Life

Dear Friend,
In the 1970s, the California Brown Pelican was an endangered species, and it was rare to see them in wildlife rehabilitation centers, as their numbers were dangerously low. Before I came to International Bird Rescue, I worked with a local group that also rehabilitated seabirds. When I first started there, I was introduced to Groucho, a beautiful female Brown Pelican who had suffered a severe wing injury and had her wing amputated as a result. She was a permanent resident, and it was through my relationship with her that I began to understand and love pelicans — especially Groucho.
Groucho lived in a large pen with a round, in-ground pool and some other seabirds — and eventually another pelican — as her companions. She was always friendly to me and wanted to interact when I was feeding or cleaning the cage. After work or during breaks when no one was around, I would sit in the pen and watch her, as I was fascinated with how she was designed, how she could turn her pouch inside out, and particularly how she could use the hook on the end of her bill, either as a deadly weapon or as something so gentle and delicate that she could pick up the tiniest blade of grass and hand it to me, talking all the time in a sort of huff-huff sound that pelicans make.
My greatest surprise was when she started climbing up onto my lap when I was sitting there. She would perch on my leg, preen herself, preen my hair and skin with that gentle hook, nibble on my ears and eyelashes, and she would eventually lay down and fall asleep on my leg, just like it was as natural as sitting on a rock. She was as curious about me as I was about her. I was surprised by this at first, but it was through these interactions with Groucho that I really came to know that birds may look like other birds of the same species, but each one has its own distinct personality traits, likes and dislikes. They are individuals with their own purpose, not just members of a flock.
I enjoyed many years of this personal and intimate relationship with Groucho until she eventually passed away. That was a sad day for all of us, as she had touched everyone’s heart with her beauty, her take on life and her willingness to be vulnerable with us. A dear artist friend of mine who knew of our unique relationship painted this picture of her for me, as he recognized what Groucho meant to me. To this day, that picture hangs in the doorway to my house.
In 1978, we were lucky to see two pelicans a year in rehab. This year, International Bird Rescue has taken in over 950 Brown Pelicans, and I absolutely know that every one of them is a unique individual, just like Groucho. IBR has taken on tremendous responsibility with all these birds, and I want to make sure that these descendants of Groucho and other birds will always have an opportunity for a second chance when they need help from us, their human family.
That’s why I decided to become a sustaining member of IBR, so that I could financially contribute to the care of pelicans and all the other birds that really need our help. As a sustaining member, my donation is charged monthly to my credit card, and I don’t have to worry about forgetting to send a check. I easily spend $25 a month on many not-so-important things, so I made the commitment to give that amount to the birds each month in this way. At this level of support, by year’s end I’ll have given $300 that I know will go directly to animals that need our help.
I invite you to join me in becoming a member of IBR at whatever level you can afford. When times are tough, I’ve always depended on our sustaining members to provide a funding base for our work. As director, this has always been important to me as I planned for the year ahead — and I am grateful for our members because of this.
When our tag line, “Every Bird Matters,” was presented to me a few years back, I immediately liked it and thought of the magical years that I spent with Groucho. Being looked in the eye, just inches away, by a pelican is a humbling experience, especially when you know that this being has no judgment or criticism of you despite what has happened to them. That was a gift that I will never forget, and it changed me in ways that I cannot express. Let me tell you from experience: Every single, individual bird matters! I hope you will join me in preserving these deserving creatures by becoming a member of IBR and making it possible for them to receive the care they deserve.
Best wishes this holiday season,
Jay Holcomb
Director, International Bird Rescue

Pigeon Racing The Deadliest Marathon

In April 2012, PETA released a 15-month undercover investigation—spanning five states—into some of the largest pigeon-racing operations in the U.S. Read more about the findings of our investigation.


Pigeon racers start training young birds by having them fly around outside their home lofts to familiarize them with the location. They then place the birds in crates and drive them away from home to release them for "training tosses," first close to home and then farther and farther. For a race, the birds are driven as many as 600 miles from their home to see if they are able to make it back faster than other birds. Released first thing in the morning, they fly out of desperation to get back to their mates and their eggs or hatchlings. When they return, sensors scan the radio-frequency identification chips in their leg bands and record their times on electronic race clocks. Their speeds are calculated based on the distance from the race release point to the racers' lofts, and the race results are sorted by average speed. The fastest birds win prize money.

"Young-bird" races (for birds under 1 year old) generally offer more prize money than "old-bird" races (for birds over 1 year old), especially high-stakes races that may pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital prizes. One race in South Africa attracts entrants from all around the world for its $1 million in prize money.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to see the PETA undercover video.

Urge the Attorney General to Investigate Cruel and Unlawful Pigeon Races!

Hard To Swallow

Accidents happen. We choose reusable materials and diligently pick up after ourselves, but as hard as we each try to shrink our own ecological footprint, most of us have let a plastic bag get away from us in the wind or lost a sandwich wrapper off the side of our beach towel. Or what about the disposable coffee cup you forgot on the roof of your car? Each of us has played a part in the pollution we see around us, and each of us has the power to do something to reduce the damage.

International Bird Rescue helps hundreds of birds impacted by plastics and other debris each year, like the Brown Pelican whose x-ray (shown below) revealed that it had swallowed a pair of glasses, or the California Gull gingerly freed from the “Open 24 Hours” bag wrapped tightly around its neck.

To bolster progress in decreasing pollution and preventing such accidents, International Bird Rescue is proud to throw our support behind the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Stop Plastic Pollution coalition. We also know that our greatest strength is in mitigation of the dangers pollution poses for seabirds and other aquatic birds, and International Bird Rescue is hard at work rescuing and rehabilitating these animals 365 days a year.

All of us at International Bird Rescue thank you for everything you do to protect our waters and the birds that call them home.

With deepest gratitude,

Paul Kelway
Executive Director
International Bird Rescue

Click Here to go to International Bird Rescue Blog Hard To Swallow.

Last of the Passenger Pigeons Died Sept. 1, 1914. Nature Does Have It's Limits.

Though they once numbered in the billions, the last of the passenger pigeons, named “Martha,” died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914. The species was done in by market hunting—and a tragically false belief in nature’s endless bounty.

Passenger pigeons are gone but not forgotten. WildEarth Guardians annually commemorates Martha by inspiring action to protect other imperiled birds from extinction. This year we are pleased to update you on our continuing efforts to protect birds under the Endangered Species Act.

Click here to read more from Wild Earth Guardians.

Give a Pelican a Second Chance! Please Help An Innocent Pelican Today.

 by International Bird Rescue Blog

For California Brown Pelicans staying strong enough to fly and dive is a matter of life and death.

This summer, record numbers of juvenile Brown Pelicans are struggling to hunt and grounding themselves on beaches up and down the coast. The most disoriented fledglings are even heading inland, as far as Yosemite, in search of food. These normally robust symbols of our coastline are pouring into our clinics weak and thin. Some are tangled in fishing tackle, pierced with fishing hooks, suffering from broken bones, or covered with fish oil from fish cleaning stations in harbors along the West Coast.

So far this year, International Bird Rescue has cared for more than 600 California Brown Pelicans and well over 400 of these patients – mostly starving fledglings – have come through our doors in just the past month.

Simply stated, we need your help.

Each Pelican should consume half its bodyweight in food each day – for a youngster, that’s about 4-5 pounds of fish – and with rehabilitation periods of several weeks to a month or more, the expenses of medicines, surgeries and food multiply quickly. International Bird Rescue is currently spending about $2,000 a day on fish alone to save as many of these birds as we can.

Personally inspired to help keep us going, two of our supporters have offered matching gifts totaling $6,000 to encourage public aid during this crisis. With double the impact, your gift will go a long way in helping us keep up with the costs of caring for each of these amazing creatures.
Please consider making a gift, adopting a Pelican,
or even becoming one of our cherished Pelican Partners today.

It means a great deal to us…
but absolutely everything to them.

Beauty and the Beak

Beauty the Bald Eagle gets a second chance with a little help from technology.

Beautiful has beak shot off and is fitted with a new beak with the help of
beautiful  caregiver.

See beautiful video by clicking here. Beauty and the Beak

Beautiful White Pigeon at Best Friends Santuary Use To Be Lab Bird

 by Aimee Stoddard

The Todd, as his name suggests, is quite dashing and debonair. He spends his days “chillaxin,” enjoying all the pleasures life has to offer. He’s got everything a pigeon could ever want, including a sweet pad with all the amenities and a girlfriend. Intent on living life to the fullest, The Todd is grateful for the dramatic twist of fate that brought him to the Sanctuary.

A not-so-sunny start
 
This handsome fellow hasn’t always had the easiest go of it. In fact, his early years were downright gloomy. He was one of 30 king pigeons who came to the Sanctuary after spending a number of years as research birds at a university. Wildlife rehabilitator Barbara Weider says, “It wasn’t a great life. They were all kept in separate, small cages, where they didn’t have access to each other, just the researchers.”

When the pigeons had outlived their usefulness as lab birds and were scheduled to be put down, a kind-hearted graduate student contacted Best Friends to see if there was a place for them. They deserved a break.

Click here to read the full article.