June 3, 2024 — There’s a broken link in the food chain of California’s brown pelicans, adding a sad chapter to one of conservation’s most striking success stories.
Emaciated birds are turning up in California’s ponds, reservoirs, backyards and even San Francisco’s Oracle Park during a baseball game—far from their wild ocean home.
Wildlife centers are inundated with the gangly, prehistoric-looking seabirds, nursing them back to health with fluids, fish and medications, but the cost is a staggering $1,500 per bird. Injuries can easily double the cost.
“They’re feathered skeletons,” said Rebecca Duerr, director of research and veterinary science at International Bird Rescue, which is treating 200 pelicans at its Fairfield center and 70 pelicans in Los Angeles. “Hunched over and folded up.”