Bird Cams Around the World

I've talked about net-bottomed pens and wall cages. We also have peli boxes. These are large enclosures with a wood frame and heavy plastic cloth on the sides. The bottom has no floor, to make it easier to clean. It sits on our concrete floor, which is covered by sheets, blankets, or even a comforter.

These enclosures were built for pelicans, but they also house cormorants, ducks, geese, and other birds.

Each day the occupant gets an exam. While that takes place, a volunteer removes the linens, tub of fish, perches, etc., from the enclosure. The walls and floor under the peli box is thoroughly washed with Simple Green and disinfected with Clorhex. The linens are replaced, too.

Here's an older peli box outside the laundry room. We have a mound of clean laundry in the tub. If you look through the windows on the double doors, you can see into Holding 2, which is reserved for oil spill birds. The peli boxes now have white plastic cloth on them, which admits more light.


peli box outside of laundry room

And yes, all that laundry will be folded and put away.

In 2007, a beautiful pelican aviary and spa was being constructed. It was to be completed by the end of that year, but in November we had the Cosco Busan oil spill crisis, and work on the aviary was halted.

It was completed in 2008, with many volunteers working on it. It is gorgeous, with two pools! It is also a flight cage. Pelicans, cormorants, and gulls share this aviary. And here it is:

video: Tranquil Pelican Aviary

I made this video in July, 2008. At the far end are the two adult Double-crested Cormorants, who served as role models for the chicks which hatched in our incubator. If you look very closely at the video, you'll see a black cormorant perched at the far end of the aviary.

I filmed the clips around 6 PM, standing in one corner of the aviary and not moving around. From this perspective, the two pools look small, but they are actually very large. The birds seem to be enjoying themselves, preening, swimming, flying, eating.

The aviary is 100 feet long!

We don't have the money to replace some of our smaller aviaries, so volunteers have restored them.



Video: Peaceful Egret Aviary

This is a little video I made of one of the aviaries while refilling the pond. All wasn’t so peaceful when I first entered, but after a few minutes the residents concluded I wasn’t going to eat them after all, so they settled down to their usual routines of wading in the water, flying from perch to perch, eating, and pecking their neighbors.

The small pond was created, pots of plants were added (we took the plants from the marsh behind IBRRC), two layers of netting were hung inside to protect their beaks from the metal mesh of the cage and give them some privacy (we washed and used the old netting). Gravel was added to the floor of the aviary (which sits on the ground) so we could hose it down without creating mud puddles. There are shallow bowls filled with water and smelt (the water keeps the fish fresh and keeps the ants away).

There are branches in the aviary, suspended by bungee cords. The reason we used bungee is that we wanted the birds to get used to landing on moving branches, so when they are released into the wild, they won’t be frightened when they land in trees. We try to make the aviaries as close as possible to the birds’ natural habitat.

These are snowy egrets and cattle egrets.

After I posted this video, someone wanted to see the other side of the aviary, so here it is:



video: The Other Side of the Egret Aviary

This video shows the large branches suspended by bungee cords. The egrets fly back and forth, and when they land, the branch sways. The aviary is also a flight cage. We hope to have the funds to build a new, larger one in the future. I'm not sure when that will happen. Last year our funding was severely cut. Now we are operating on a shoestring. Half a shoestring.

I agree! Thank you for all the work you do to help these birds & also for sharing it with us!

and WoW!!!

Very interesting and wonderful posts beans..

I did 3 Dawn codes this morning

An article on TriState rescuing pelicans this week. I'm not sure about this population, but pelicans in previous years have stayed because people were feeding them around local restaurants and marinas. Needless to say, that is strongly discouraged in those locations now. In talking to rehabbers who treated them, they were mostly juvies that didn't know any better. They should have migrated with their parents.
Hopefully everyone here knows that already.

Cold snap endangers pelicans

Rescue center saves birds that didn't migrate due to abundance of food here

By Alex Ruoff
Staff Writer

NEWARK -- Every morning, veterinarian Erica Miller heads to the Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Center to check on more than a dozen brown pelicans that are suffering from frostbite.

Since New Year's Day, the organization has taken in dozens of birds, most of which were living in southern Maryland when temperatures fell below freezing earlier this month.

According to Miller, about 22 of the 30 birds accepted so far are expected to survive and will be released into the wild once they are rehabilitated.

But with temperatures still hovering around freezing, she fears more birds are at risk for illness or death.

"We heard of two more captured just the other day, and there are more," she said.

David Heilmeier, southern region manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said the harsh weather caught the migratory birds off guard.

A flock of about 40 was found on Smith's Creek in Ridge, Md., where bait fish -- the birds' main food source -- are still abundant. With the pelicans able to feed, many failed to follow nature's course.

"When they have food, they don't want to migrate out like they should," Heilmeier said. "Then they get hit by the cold and are too weak to leave."

Officials said it's not uncommon for pelicans to suffer from frostbite. In fact, it has been a growing trend for the past several years.

"We didn't get much last year because we didn't have much of a frost," Miller said. "But we've seen this before."

Despite that, the population is thriving, she said.

The birds were first placed on the endangered species list in the 1970s after they came in contact with pesticides that harmed their eggs. They were removed from the list in 1987, and a count conducted by DNR 10 years later showed more than 2,000 pelicans were nesting in the Chesapeake Bay area.

The majority of them migrate south for the winter, but Miller said the flock on Smith's Creek represents an annual effort by Maryland and Delaware agencies to rehabilitate those that stay behind.

Rebecca Elzey, director of development for Tri-State, said about 12 pelicans have made a full recovery, and she hopes all of them will be released when spring arrives. In the meantime, the biggest challenge is funding their care. Tri-State is a nonprofit organization that relies on public volunteers and donations, Elzey said.

"Because pelicans consume copious amounts of herring every day, properly caring for these unique and interesting birds is expected to be very costly," she said.

Heilmeier said his department will continue to monitor the area for more frostbitten pelicans. As for a long-term solution, he fears there may be none.

"We've done a few behavior aversion things, but it doesn't seem to work," he said. "We'll be keeping an eye on them for now."

[email protected] 302-537-1881, ext. 201
Additional Facts
By the numbers

# Thirty-one brown pelicans were moved from Smith Creek in Ridge, Md., to the Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Center in Newark after suffering from frostbite.

# Twelve birds have fully recovered.

# There are more than 2,000 brown pelicans nesting in the Chesapeake Bay area.

# The birds were placed on the endangered species list in the 1970s, but were removed in 1987.

Thanks, Barb--I love pelicans & hope TriState is able to continue its work rehabilitating them...

What makes me smile is hearing about a successful rescue and subsequent release. So I am going to put a few of those stories in this thread.

One of my favorites is about Munch, a Laysan Albatross which was rehabilitated by IBRRC when it was in its original location in Berkeley, California. Some of you may be familiar with this story.

A Long Way from Home: Munch, the History-making Albatross


Munch, incubating an egg

On March 26, 1979, a Laysan Albatross with clipped feathers, found wandering in San Francisco, was brought to IBRRC. Waiting for the bird to molt and grow new feathers would take too long, so staff had to figure out how to help this bird fly again.

The bird was nick-named “Munch” because he munched everyone’s fingers when he was being fed.

A decision was made to try “imping,” a technique where part of a healthy feather is spliced together with the broken one, creating a “whole” feather. (Falconers originally developed imping.) Feathers from a dead Laysan Albatross sent from Hawaii were used and held together by tiny drill bits and saltwater epoxy glue. After the tedious procedure, Munch went into his private pool and seemed oblivious to his new feathers. On May 21, he was flown to Midway Island, which has the largest colony of Laysan Albatross in the world.

Nine years later a seabird biologist visiting Isla Guadalupe Island off Baja California found a newly established colony of Laysan Albatross. He spotted a fine male, incubating an egg. He noticed he was banded, number 977-35061. It was Munch.

Source: IBRRC

To read the full story, please CLICK HERE

I have seen this procedure performed on a Western Gull at IBRRC. One wing had clipped feathers, so our fella couldn't fly. The substitute feathers we obtained didn't match in color to the gull's own feathers. But the imping was successful, the gull passed his flying test in the aviary, and he was released after he had gained weight and was healthy. I can imagine a bird watcher, spotting him through binoculars, being blown away because he had wings of two different colors!

As you now know, we take a very small blood sample during a bird’s exam.

The blood is collected in two tiny glass test tubes. The tubes are set in a centrifuge to “spin the blood.” When the rotary motion begins, the test tubes swing into a slanted or a horizontal position with the open ends toward the axis of rotation; the heavier, solid part of the blood is thrown outward into the bottom of the tube and the lighter liquid part comes to the top.

After centrifugation, the blood has separated into three layers:

1) a layer of clear fluid (the plasma) at the top
2) a layer of red fluid containing most of the red blood cells (erythrocytes) at the bottom
3) a thin layer in between, the buffy coat (usually less than 1% of the total volume of the blood sample), containing most of the white blood cells and platelets.



The three layers are carefully measured, using precise instruments. The red blood cells should be 40 – 60 %. In order to be released, a bird must have a PCV of at least 40.

A buffy coat higher than 1% indicates an infection and medicine will be prescribed by the veterinarian. The buffy coat is sort of a buff color, hence the name.

We use a refractometer to measure the total plasma protein in the blood sample. The total protein should be between 4 and 6 on the meter.

If the blood protein is low, hetastarch intravenous therapy may be prescribed. This IV helps to pump up the protein in the blood. However, the PCV must be above 25, as the hetastarch IV can thin the blood. Blood with a PCV of 25 is already thin.

Taking a blood sample gives us a great deal of information about our patients. For example, an oiled bird with less than 30 - 35 PCV is not washed until his PCV improves. In his weakened condition, he could not survive the wash.

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This post talks about the exam: viewtopic.php?p=30451#p30451

Spring is the beginning of “starving baby chick” season. Many baby birds fall out of the nest or the nest is destroyed or a parent has not returned. These babies are brought to us by a caring public. Sometimes they bring babies who have not been abandoned. These are usually ducklings which have been spotted wandering alone. The would-be rescuer scoops them up, not realizing that Mother is hiding and her chicks simply did not follow her. The best thing to do is leave the area and give Mother a chance to come out of hiding and gather her brood.


Mother keeps an eye on the photographer

Here is the story of a Least Tern, which was brought to us last year.

He was so tiny! We did a quick exam (no blood test) of his body and put him in an incubator in ICU. We fed him tiny slivers of night smelt. As with our other patients, there was minimal handling and viewing, so he could relax and not become habituated to humans.


Baby Least Tern waiting to be fed

Video: Baby Least Tern Eats His Fish

I film while Ann feeds the little fella. Because there is no mother to comfort him, we put a clean feather duster in the incubator so he could snuggle up. As he grows older, he can feed himself.


He’s the size of a turnip now

Video: Baby Tern Eats Live Minnows

We have a fish tank at the hospital, and there are also a few goldfish. We tried to remove the goldfish from the dish (not being a fish he would normally eat), but he was too fast for us!

He grew very fast and we moved him to a shorebird box. We try to copy his natural habitat when we put birds in aviaries, spas, and shorebird boxes. This box is covered with netting on one side and a sheet on the other. There is a special full-spectrum light over the corner of the box.


Least Tern is almost fully grown

Video: Least Tern Graduates to Shorebird Box

I didn’t know what kind of video clip I would get, as I simply held the tiny Flip Video camera under the sheet. I didn’t want him to see me looking at him.

About a week after I took this video, he was fully feathered and was transferred to a special aviary outside. And two weeks later he was released!

Here's a picture I found of an adult Least Tern and her chick in their natural habitat --


Mother and baby

Thanks for the great videos and info about the least tern chick, Beans!

Here's our baby Pied-billed Grebe. You can see how his legs are located far back on his body. He spends his whole life on the water, where he sleeps, eats, swims, and dives. When he flies, he takes off and lands in the water. Grebes even build their nests on the water.


Baby Pied-billed Grebe in his pool

Video: Baby Pied-billed Grebe is Fed Minnows

The one who is feeding him is our gentle intern, John, who was with us last summer. In the wild, when the babies have finished eating, they will crawl up on their parents' backs and snuggle down in the warm feathers. John offers the baby his hand, so he can crawl out of the water.

Then he returns him to the incubator, where he heads for the feather duster.

There's an excellent article on the web about Pied-billed Grebes. CLICK HERE

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. Our Los Angeles center has rescued 40 birds in the past 48 hours and more are being captured and being brought in. Our Fairfield center in California is also expecting to receive approximately 40 birds by tomorrow and that number is also growing. We expect to have about 100 wet and cold brown pelicans by this weekend.

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.

Video: Storm Battered Brown Pelicans Admitted to Hospital

January 23, 2010: The relentless storms and torrential rains in California are impacting pelicans and the number of wet, cold and often hypothermic birds arriving at our centers is growing rapidly.

Saturday and Sunday were very busy at the hospital with all of these birds. The day started at 7 AM and lasted till 8 PM... or later. Most of these birds had to be washed, beginning today. Except for a few, the rest will be washed tomorrow. As you know, they must have a good blood test before they are subjected to the wash room.

Each pelican can eat $500 - $1,000 worth of fish during his rehabilitation. Donations of any size will really help!

http://www.ibrrc.org/

Video: Why Pelicans Could Not Weather January Storms

IBRRC's Executive Director, Jay Holcomb, explains waterproofing.

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

IBRRC in Fairfield has received 50 pelicans and expects another 20 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.

IBRRC now has an official YouTube site! :ecsmile