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.

Please Help Fix Broken Birds

blog.bird-rescue.org

Every year International Bird Rescue takes in more than 400 young, and often broken, Herons and Egrets.

Heron and Egret chicks start to leave the nest and perch on branches less than two weeks after hatching, and with all of the chaos in their crowded rookeries, many lose their balance and plummet to the ground. As our cities expand over more and more natural nesting areas, Herons and Egrets are left with the dangerous option of raising their young in places like street medians, where branches stretch out over cleared, hardened earth – and bustling streets – and after hard falls, fledglings face broken bones and no chance of returning to their nests. Without your help their odds of survival are grim.

Late last month a fallen Black-crowned Night Heron chick was rescued from Sonoma County. He was found to have a badly broken right leg, blood in his right ear, parasites, dehydration and a low body temperature. Once International Bird Rescue staff had splinted his leg under anesthesia, his complex rehabilitation plan included expensive medication to fight infection, inflammation, and parasites, doses of calcium to help form a callus over his break, vitamins A and D to help absorb the calcium, and a regimen of a few hours of sunlight each day to help metabolize it.

Young birds have especially voracious appetites – and this one has been eating up to a pound of fish every day. Our staff and volunteers are closely monitoring his progress, administering radiographs and changing his splint as he heals and grows. Since he has gained strength, he has been moved to an aviary with other Black-crowned Night Herons to allow him to develop the social and developmental skills he will need to survive. Once he is able to fly well and forage on his own, International Bird Rescue will release him back into the wild.

When you give generously to International Bird Rescue, you are giving birds like this young Black-crowned Night Heron the priceless gift of a second chance at independence. Please help us raise $20,000 by the Fourth of July and give birds like this fledgling Heron all of the medical care, medicine, and food that they need to grow up strong and make it on their own.

Heron and Egret patients that were rescued and released as chicks have been re-sighted thriving – and even breeding – in the wild years later. Reports like these remind us of the true value of our lifesaving work, and we can only hope that you are as inspired as we are to help every bird that needs us.

Click here for the International Bird Rescue Blog

Use Non Toxic Products To Clean Your Birds Cages and Your Home

I use non toxic products to clean my bird's cages and my home.  I am very sensitive and cannot tolerate toxic products.  Toxic products are very dangerous to your pet birds and humans.  My mind can rest with ease when cleaning their cages, dishes, etc.  My non toxic dish soap leaves no toxic residue on the dishes.

I discovered an ant colony in my bedroom behind the dresser with my bird's cages on top of it.  My bed is right next to my dresser, so the ants were behind the bed, too!!!  ICK!   I don't like to kill creatures of any kind, but they were in my bedroom going after traces of crumbs that had fallen from their cages!  Luckily I had a non toxic remedy to take care of it.  I used a spot remover, that I buy from my favorite store, that sells safer products.  It is strong and smells strong, but is not toxic.  I put the birds in my living room on the couch and covered them up.  Then I sprayed the ants with a more concentrated solution of the spot remover.  It killed them and I vacuumed them up.  I went over the baseboard all along the wall with the spray again and let it sit and dry there.  I did open the windows wide because it does smell strong.  Luckily it's not toxic!  I put the birds back in the bedroom a few hours later after the strong smell went away, and tucked them in for bed (I put blankets over their cages at night.)

If you would like to get some non toxic products for your bird's cages, your home and yourself please go here and sign up for more information.  Please note that you got this information about non toxic products from my bird blog.  I will be very happy to contact you via phone, skype and/or email, to help you have a safer home for you, your birds and your family.

Osprey Family Nest Cam - Audubon Live Cam!

Here is an Osprey Live Nest Cam.  This is so awesome!  It is an Audubon Live Cam!

Audubon is know for it's work in taking care of wild birds and their homes.

Here is the link to the live Osprey Nest cam.

It is Tough Being a Seagull!

International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Center recently admitted a Western Gull that had survived three life-threatening encounters with mankind! Covered in what looked and smelled like mechanical lubricant, he was captured near San Francisco International Airport. During his intake evaluation, Center staff found fishing hook wounds in the corners of his mouth. X-rays taken to ensure that he had not in fact swallowed the hook revealed that he had been previously shot with a BB. This one bird had been – on three different occasions – oiled, hooked, and even shot.

Each day International Bird Rescue offers life-saving care to birds with stories like his, and we need your help!

While the Gull’s BB wound was surely intentionally inflicted, its fishing hook injury and exposure to life-threatening lubricant were likely the result of human carelessness – and these are just some of the many threats birds face while living in close proximity to people.

Your gift to International Bird Rescue will directly impact our ability to heal the wounds of human interference by offering each avian patient the expert care it deserves.

This Gull has survived the intensive wash it required to remove the lubricant, and is rehabilitating in our Pelican Aviary, but he is just one of dozens of birds with human-caused injuries in our care right now. International Bird Rescue hopes that you will join us in saving lives by supporting the medical and rehabilitation expenses for each of these magnificent, yet fragile, creatures.

Each successful recovery that we can give to a seabird like this is a victory for the future of human-wildlife relations. Every bird matters, and so does every donation.

With heartfelt thanks.

International Bird Rescue Blog with pictures and more information on the Seagull.

What Should You Do When Birds Collide With A Window?

As spring continues and bird activity is peaking, you’ve probably noticed birds colliding with your windows, especially if you live in a wooded area.

This is a common but huge problem that takes the lives of millions of birds annually.

What can you do to keep birds from your windows?

And what should you do if you see a bird collide with your window?
Our birding expert, George Harrison (the birder, not the Beatle!) offers some tips below…..

Click here to read the full article. 

One time a big beautiful bird, a little bigger than a robin, hit my Mom’s window.  I went out on the porch and saw him sitting there with his mouth open.  He didn’t even run away.  He was very stunned! He didn’t even move.  I went inside and put on some leather gloves. The I went back out on the porch, picked up the bird and held him in my hand.  I petted him, talking to him gently while waving my hand across his eyes now and then to see if he had come out of being stunned yet.  I kept talking to him, petting him.  He finally saw my hand wave across his face and he flew to a tree limb right next to us.  He sat there for about a half an hour and finally flew away.
Barb DelGiudice:)

Non-Stick Cookware Kills Another Parrot!

Earlier this week, I heard about yet another parrot death following exposure to the toxic fumes of non-stick cookware. This death is particularly frustrating because this owner HAD heard the warnings, but didn’t take them seriously.

It astonishes me that some people still aren’t aware of this danger (for both birds AND humans) in this day and age, and it makes me wonder what we are doing wrong that the information is not reaching everyone.

But, what are you to do when someone DOES have the knowledge and chooses to disregard it? For anyone who thinks this is overcautious drama, please read the next paragraph very carefully:


If your bird is exposed to the toxic PTFE or PFOA fumes emitted by certain non-stick coatings like teflon, it is likely to die an excrutiating death as it suffocates in the fluids its lungs rapidly produce to protect themselves. The vast majority of birds die from acute edematous pneumonia before they reach the vet. Those with minor exposure that manage to survive suffer with lifelong health repercussions from the event.

 Click here to read the full article.

I don't have any coated cookware in my home.  Why risk it!  It is not worth risking the life of a sentient being.  I don't understand some peoples values.

Alex the Talking Parrot was a Mathematical Genius

By IBTimes Staff Reporter

There was once an extremely intelligent West African Gray Parrot called Alex. Alex was a famous parrot not only able to talk rather fluently but, it now appears, also able to count objects and perform numerical calculations, according to an article published in Animal Cognition, by Irene Pepperberg. 

Dr. Irene, who trained Alex, reports her charge had great mathematical skills and was able to add two Arabic numerals and the total number of objects under three cups.

She performed 12 trials asking Alex to add two Arabic numerals and amazingly he gave the right answer nine times. When she presented him, sequentially, with three sets of objects hidden under three cups, Alex gave the correct answer eight out of ten times.

Click here to read the full article.

Till Death Do Us Part: Birds that Mate for Life. Happy Valentine's Day!

Love is in the air. This Valentine’s Day, take inspiration from some of the great bird species that mate for life. Here are just a few examples of the many winged wonders that fall into this category.

Bald Eagle
Laysan Albatross
Mute Swan
Scarlet Macaw
Whooping Crane
California Condor
Atlantic Puffin
Black Vulture

Click here to read the details of this article.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Why Do Crows Like To Gather in Large Roosts?

Most people in Danville, Illinois, wish the crows now in their midst would find themselves another winter home, Steve Bailey welcomes the visitors with open arms. He’s a bird lover, of course, and proud to live in the unofficial Winter Crow Capital of North America—despite the noise, the mess, and the smell that comes with that distinction.

 Still, the birds remain. The most obvious reason for their stubbornness is that Danville offers a perfect location for crows. It’s in a river valley surrounded by agricultural land in all directions. As for the crows’ communal tendencies, the birds know that there is strength in numbers. That is, roosting together helps them watch for predators and increases their chances of finding food.

Click here to read the full article on eNature Blog.

A Western Screech Owl in Desperate Need

Please read what happened to this poor little owl and how he was rescued and had a happy ending. 

My heart goes out to any creature that encounters any kind of threat and accident due to careless humans.


On January 5, Santa Clara County’s Injured and Orphaned Wildlife Inc. came to International Bird Rescue with a Western Screech Owl that had flown into insulation foam as workers were insulating an attic. With its face coated in hardened foam, its life was in danger.

As soon as the patient arrived at our San Francisco Bay Wildlife Rescue Center he was examined and stabilized. We administered anesthesia and started to carefully remove some of the foam that was smothering large portions of his face and body.

 The bird had been attempting to preen off this toxic material, and had ripped a big patch from his chest before he arrived at the Center. Clinic staff removed several chunks of foam from his mouth and we are hopeful that the rest will be cast in a pellet.

Click here to read the full article and find out about the owls happy ending.

Pigeons Recognize Human Faces

If you shoo a pigeon, that bird is likely to remember you and know to stay out of your way the next time you cross paths, according to a new study. Researchers found that wild, untrained pigeons can recognize individual people's faces and are not fooled by a change of clothes.

A new study was conducted on untrained feral pigeons. At a park in Paris, two researchers of similar build and skin color, but wearing different-colored lab coats, fed a group of pigeons.

Click here to read the full article.

Pigeons Can Count! Not Bird-Brained After All.

 This is so awesome to know because I really love pigeons!

Pigeons may not be so bird-brained after all, as scientists have found the birds' ability to understand numbers is on par with that of primates.

 Scarf and his colleagues first trained three pigeons to count up to three. On a touchscreen, they presented the pigeons with a set of images that had objects of various sizes, shapes and colors. For example, one set presented images with one yellow block, two red cylinders or three yellow rectangles. To receive a treat, the pigeons had to select the images in the correct object-number order, from lowest to highest.

Click here to read the full article.

Pigeons are Very Smart Birds!

Wow I knew this was true about pigeons.  I love them so dearly.

Pigeons (at least the feral kind) are actually nearly as smart as Rhesus Monkeys when it comes to mathematics.  Researchers from the University of Otago, New Zealand recently demonstrated this with studies indicating that pigeons can count up to about 8 or 9. The researchers actually decided to use pigeons for their study because they knew that they were easy to train and had excellent vision (an attribute required for their experiment).

Click here to read the full article.