Large spherical numbers usually catch our consideration – particularly in the case of California Brown Pelicans.
The quantity 5,000 caught my consideration lately when former affected person Brown Pelican banded C57 was re-sighted on August 29, 2023 in San Mateo County by prolific pelican spotter Bart Selby. He photographed C57 busily dwelling her pelican life resting and socializing on the coast.
She was launched on December 16, 2009 after being unable to fly attributable to a wing damage, and is the primary of our blue-banded pelicans to cross that massive spherical variety of 5,000 days again within the wild after leaving our care.
The Blue-banded Pelican Program began within the fall of 2009, coincidentally, proper earlier than California Brown Pelicans have been faraway from the Endangered Species listing. Solely a small variety of birds obtained these particular blue leg bands within the first yr. Since then, greater than 1,750 of our former pelican sufferers have been launched with these bands which have allowed the birds to be simply noticed whereas going about their enterprise.
Our internet portal has enabled chook observers to report sightings for us to be taught what they’ve been as much as since launch. Some pelicans have been noticed solely as soon as whereas others are seen greater than 100 instances. Some go a few years earlier than or between re-sightings. Others are noticed yearly at sure areas once they cease in whereas on their annual migration. Some are solely noticed in distant areas away from individuals. A fortunate few who frolicked in our aviary collectively have been seen touring in the identical flock years later. Often we’ll obtain stories of unhappy tales of accidents or deaths, however the overwhelming majority have been stories of birds alive and effectively lengthy after launch. We treasure each report.
5,000 days is a very long time to outlive within the wild, 13.7 years. C57 was an grownup chook a minimum of three years outdated when in care in 2009, thus should be nearing 17 years outdated at a minimal. Brown Pelicans are long-lived birds that aren’t formally adults till they’re greater than three years outdated. Though they will doubtlessly reside into their forties, there are such a lot of threats to their well being and survival that solely a small fraction are thought to make it greater than 10 years. Many of those threats are brought on by or exacerbated by people.
Chook Rescue’s work caring for injured birds helps mitigate the human influence on wild birds. Each single one in all our former sufferers that wears a blue leg band survived a life-threatening occasion to reach into our care within the first place earlier than making it by way of to be launched. Every re-sighting demonstrates that the care we offered was efficient at getting the birds over their issues and match to outlive after launch.
Details about how rehabilitated wild animals do after launch is sort of sparse within the scientific literature; to broaden data on this topic, we lately printed a scientific paper that explores not solely our former sufferers’ post-release survival however correlates it to what their medical issues have been whereas they have been in care.
Two different former pelican sufferers that have been launched in November and December 2009 are more likely to be part of C57 in crossing the 5,000 days mark quickly. Again in 2009, C98 was handled for excessive anemia and had contaminated plumage inflicting him to starve close to to dying, whereas C34 had extreme fishing gear accidents. Each birds have been additionally a minimum of three years outdated in 2009, and have already been re-sighted doing effectively in 2023. We await their subsequent re-sightings which is able to seemingly ship them over 5,000 days too.
We hope that our former sufferers will ultimately turn out to be the oldest identified California Brown Pelicans and we wish to proceed to get glimpses into their lives by way of stories from wildlife observers. We revel within the birds’ successes regardless of the challenges they face to outlive a altering world. Finally, we wish to see even larger spherical numbers.
