Dozens of disoriented pelicans recovering from storm's effects

[Staff]

Dozens of disoriented pelicans recovering from storm's effects
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer
Posted: 01/21/2010 06:17:23 PM PST

Dozens of disoriented pelicans recovering from storm's effects - The Daily Breeze
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"These birds are really contaminated," rehabilitation manager Julie Skoglund said. "That means that there's something on them that makes them not waterproof. They need to be washed and waterproofed."
Storm drain runoff flooded the ocean with trash and contaminates like car oil that seep into the feathers of the pelicans, loosening the natural seal that keeps water from reaching the bird's bodies...

[Staff]

Oregon pelicans face starvation
Many stayed in the state through December, and are too weak to go south to better feeding grounds
January 27, 2010
By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune

Oregon pelicans face starvation | MailTribune.com
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"The door just kind of shut on their food," Lowe says.
Feeding the pelicans will only further habituate them to humans and render them less likely to follow their regular migration patterns, Lowe says.

Pelicans' diet is limited, so well-intending people feeding them bones and heads of fish can cause damage to the pelican's throat pouch, says Dawn Grafe, the wildlife refuge complex's visitor services manager.
Also, fish bait can be contaminated with bacteria or laced with chemical preservatives that can make pelicans even more ill, Grafe says.

[Staff]

PELICAN GRIEF: STRANDED SEABIRDS HUNGRY, WET
Food shortage, heavy rains likely at root of problem
By Larry Parsons Herald Staff Writer
Updated: 02/23/2010 01:29:53 AM PST

PELICAN GRIEF: STRANDED SEABIRDS HUNGRY, WET - MontereyHerald.com :
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Rough weather and a shortage of the birds' favorite foods — anchovies and sardines — are the primary causes for the strandings of hundreds of emaciated and waterlogged pelicans along the California and Oregon coasts, state wildlife officials said.

"Unfortunately, we are looking primarily at a cyclical event driven largely by weather and oceanographic conditions," said state Department of Food and Game veterinarian Melissa Miller...