Oiled Bird Rescue…Really Long Day!

Well, as many of you know, I live along coastal Louisiana and I love animals. I registered as an experienced wildlife rehabilitator to volunteer with several groups because of the oil spill.

Today the Audubon Oil Spill Response called me while I was still seeing patients and asked for my help. The request was to get an oiled bird and transport it.

As soon as I finished work at about 4:30, I went home, grabbed a large dog crate, my husband’s truck and a variety of supplies. I made it to Galliano (near Port Fourchon) at about 6 pm. What I found there brought me to tears…in a big cardboard box, the most pitiful looking bird I have ever seen.

They thought it was a Pelican, but it was actually a Frigate bird. I put on some gloves and settled him in a crate with some blankets. His leg had a horrible open fracture and it came to mind that he might not make the 3 hour trip. He tried to snap me and was a little fiesty. That cheered me up.

The oil was thick and smells like diesel fuel. I can still smell it as I sit here at home.

It was 9 pm by the time I left the Southern tip of Lafourche Parish, drove up to the Westbank of New Orleans and drove down the spindly tip of Plaquemines to Fort Jackson, in Venice. This is where Dr. Erica Miller, with Tri-State bird rescue is living for the duration. They helped me unload the bird and I was allowed to observe as they examined him.

He is only the 4th bird brought in and the other three are all doing well.

Well, I showed Dr. Miller the fracture and was able to get a better look…it was horrible. The fracture was so bad, the leg was not salvageable.

Because these birds are great big offshore birds and are not kept in zoos like Pelicans, there really wasn’t any chance for him to recover. So with tears in my eyes, I watched as he was humanely euthanized. He actually struggled and tried to fight. Then he was gone….:crying:

His wingspan must have stretched 5 feet. Even oiled and miserable, he was still magnificent.

They reassured me that my drive wasn’t in vain and that he deserved to have his suffering ended, but I was really disappointed.

I got back in the truck and headed home. Round trip 7.5 hours and completely exhausted. But, if asked, I would do it again and again and maybe the next one can be saved.

It has been a really long day, down to the end of land and up and back down again….here are some pictures and then a picture of what a frigate bird really looks like.

Thank you all for the kind words…I just hope I can help save one next time. The spill is growing by the day and the well is still pumping out oil. I am sure this is just the begining. 😡 Horrible, thick, sticky, smelly muck!

Because of the kind of bird, Frigates are long distance fliers and no zoos keep injured Frigates like they do Pelicans.

When they were trying to euthanize him, his blood pressure was already so low, it took a long time to work. I knew in my heart that this bird probably was not salvageable. It is easy with these situations to deny the truth. It broke my heart, but his leg was broken in half. If he had not had such severe injuries, he might have made it.

Dr. Miller of Tri-State bird rescue is a fantastic Vet and she seemed in awe of this gorgeous guy.

Please think of us here, because this leak is not plugged and there are going to be many more animals that will be in this condition and there are many more that will have to be euthanized.

Many of these large, offshore birds can not tolerate the stress of being oiled. If they are also injured, that even makes their odds of survival less.

Our gulf is being polluted and there is no shut off valve!!!! The turtles and the birds will be the worst causualties….