By Matthai Kuruvila, Staff Writer The San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Brown pelicans, whose wave-skimming and dive-bombing for fish are familiar to people who spend time on the California coast, have been mysteriously falling ill and dying by the hundreds over the past few weeks.
They have been turning up, sometimes starving and emaciated, in odd places: parking lots, backyards and freeways.
The wave of ill pelicans has overwhelmed the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia, which has taken in about 100 of the birds. Another 300 have been - or are still being - treated in the center's San Pedro branch.
"I have never seen anything like this that has lasted this long," said Jay Holcomb, director of the bird rescue center. Holcomb has been involved in rehabilitating marine birds for more than 40 years in California.
Wildlife biologists are perplexed by the disease. Many of the ill pelicans are found waterlogged, meaning that the feathers that normally keep them dry have somehow become contaminated. As a result, the ill birds have been suffering from hypothermia because of exposure to winter weather and ocean water. Changed diet
In addition, necropsies of the pelicans have shown that the birds are eating prey, such as certain worms, inconsistent with their normal diet of anchovies and sardines.
"We're still scratching our heads," said Esther Burkett, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
The contamination of bird feathers typically happens with an oil spill. One theory is that the winter storms have increased storm runoff, resulting in more oil and grease on the shoreline.
Because brown pelicans are a near-shore species, they might be more affected by runoff than other birds, Burkett said.
Officials said they don't know why the birds' diet has changed.
One factor may be that for the past two winters, the birds have been spending more time along Washington and Oregon coasts before moving south.
That may indicate that there is more food in the north and less in California, said Deborah Jaques, a seabird biologist from Astoria, Ore., who works closely with California and federal wildlife agencies. Effect of El Niño
Another factor may be El Niño, which diminishes the population of zooplankton, the food of choice for anchovies, which the birds eat, Burkett said. The stormy seas also may be making it more difficult for the pelicans to see their food, she said.
Workers at the bird rescue center have been somewhat taken aback by the number of birds coming in, and they are struggling to keep up with their care. When an oil spill is the cause, there are clear funding sources, said Paul Kelway, a spokesman. But in this situation, the nonprofit center is picking up much of the cost - such as the 1,000 pounds of fish a day needed to feed the ailing birds.
"This is unprecedented," Kelway said. "We're trying to figure out a way for us getting this done, but not getting overwhelmed that this becomes an unsustainable financial burden." No longer endangered
The brown pelican was on the endangered species list for roughly 40 years before it was removed from the list in November, just two months before this sudden wave of illness and death began in mid-January.
There are an estimated 8,000 breeding pairs of pelicans in California.
It is unclear how serious these sicknesses are, said Jaques, the Oregon wildlife biologist.
"We don't know if this is the tip of the iceberg, or just a relatively small - but very visible - number," she said. How to help
Sick birds: To report pelicans in distress or those that have died, call (866) 954-3911. The California Department of Fish and Game says people should not approach, touch or feed pelicans even though some may appear to be begging or very weak.
Donations: The International Bird Rescue Research Center is seeking donations to help cover the cost of treating the brown pelicans. To help, visit www.ibrrc.org or call (707) 207-0380.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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