Monthly Newsletter
Marathon Wild Bird Center
P.O. Box 501328
Marathon, FL 33050
MM 50 at Crane Point Hammock
Phone: (305) 743-8382
Fax: (305) 743-8172
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February/March/April 2010:
We are jammin'! Because of the overwhelming number of sick and injured wild bird patients we've taken in to date this year (240 by mid-April), we've been delinquent in bringing you the February, March AND April issues of our fabulous online newsletter! So, here is what we have been up to.
Intake numbers up
Our intake numbers significantly increased. As of late March 2009 we had taken in only 133 birds--that's 107 more birds this year than we had at this time last year! Our biggest influx in 2010 has been Brown Pelicans: 113 of them. On average we take in about 100 throughout an entire year. The causes for their admittance into rehabilitation have varied. In addition to a number of emaciated (also known as starving) immature and mature pelicans we have had a banner year of pelicans entangled in fishing line and fishhooks. Thanks to the metal detector we purchased a few years ago and had customized to scan these fish-eating birds, we have detected numerous unseen fishhooks in their bellies. This situation is quickly remedied by volunteers who can reach deep into the birds' stomachs to remove these life-threatening metals. In addition, torn pouches, hitting power lines and the ingestion of filleted fish carcasses are among the other reasons for rescues.
Fifteen years and going strong
The March 7, 2010 issue of Keys Sunday featured a cover story on the Marathon Wild Bird Center (MWBC) facility marking our 15th anniversary, which was officially March 15th. Throughout the story, reporter Karen Quist highlighted the dedicated work we've accomplished and the road we've traveled to get where we are today. She also mentioned the unusually high fish bills we've had to date. During 2009 we spent a total of $14,000 on frozen fish and at the time the story came out, we had spent more than $6,000 this year. Funding has been steady, but is not what it should be because of the economy. However, we are hopeful that things will pick up and we will have a successful 15th Anniversary Bird-day Celebration in June (when things are less hectic for us) and an equally successful 5th Annual Non-Event this coming December. In the meantime, please don't hesitate to make a contribution of any size by mail or through our website donate button. As always, we make every penny count!
The rare and the endangered
Every year brings with it surprise species of birds. Some years it is a bird species we haven't seen in a while and sometimes it's a bird species we have never seen at the Bird Center . This year we have had several unusual visitors. On February 8th a Wood Stork was rescued on US 1 at the north end of Marathon. A Marathon local called the Bird Center to report that the bird was standing next to the highway looking somewhat confused. The bird, an endangered migratory bird, was indeed out of its normal range, nursing an injured foot that had apparently caused it to become quite hungry. This was the first Wood Stork for the MWBC and quite a handful. Upon admitting it, we fed the bird fish, and plenty of it, while its injured foot healed. On March 1st we released it within its normal range close to the Everglades.
On January 16th a Peregrine Falcon was rescued from a private residence on Grassy Key. Unfortunately the bird was suffering from an advanced infection in one of its elbows. This type of injury is non-reversible and we immediately knew that the bird would never be releasable. However, because Peregrine Falcons were only removed from the endangered species list in 1999, many nature centers are still eager to receive them to train as education birds. We contacted our friends at the Batchelor Bird-of-Prey Center in Miami who put us in touch with an enthusiastic gentleman named Clive Pinnock. Clive works at the Okeeheelee Nature Center in West Palm Beach and was tickled at the opportunity to acquire his dream bird--a Peregrine Falcon. Since Clive took possession of the bird in early March he has called to report how well its training is going. Clive is in heaven working with this gorgeous specimen and has even taken it to its first educational presentation. Like a proud parent, Clive said the bird did an A+ job when it was presented to a group of kindergarten students. A win-win situation!
March 12th was yet another day on which we received a rare bird. An adult hawk was rescued by volunteer JD Fagan near Stirrup Key in Marathon . Upon returning to the Bird Center with the bird, JD commented that he didn't think it was a Broadwinged Hawk, a species he has gotten used to rescuing this winter. Indeed it was not. The bird was a dark-phased Short-tailed Hawk. Over the last 15 years we have only had one other Short-tailed Hawk and have learned that they are extremely rare. It is estimated that there are fewer than 300 breeding pairs in Florida, the only North American state that it inhabits. Twice it has been proposed to be listed as endangered, yet twice such a request has been declined because of lack of data on the birds' species. A Catch-22 when there are so few birds for scientists to study! This particular patient of ours showed no immediate signs of injury. We were hopeful that its grounding might be because of a bruised wing, but more fearful that in three day's time we would learn the inevitable--that it had been electrocuted. Unfortunately, by early the following week, our worst fears were realized and we knew the unfortunate outcome. The left wing was beginning to swell and turn gray, a sign it was dying, and the bird's foot was also swelling. Ultimately both the bird's wing and foot died and the hawk had to be euthanized. Had the foot not died we would have been able to place this rare bird in a permanent home as an educational wildlife ambassador. Unfortunately, there are no captive breeding programs yet established for this rare bird species.
A hero among us!
This year, our dedicated part-time employee of one plus years, Evelyn Wilson, was honored at our local animal shelter, Stand Up for Animal's, annual Animal Hero of the Year Award banquet. Evelyn has one of the dirtiest jobs in the Keys taking care of an average of over 100 sick and injured wild birds each day. And by each day we mean seven days a week. Since last summer Evelyn has been busting her tail to help keep our bird pens clean and our birds' bellies full! Lately, however, Evelyn has been stepping up her responsibilities and tending to all routine business on Wednesdays so director Kelly Grinter can take a day off. In exchange Evelyn is now taking Thursdays off for a much needed rest. Congratulations Evelyn--we're so glad you're here for us and our resident and patient birds!
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As you can tell, we have plenty to keep us busy, and every donation makes it a little easier for us to continue our work. You can mail a check of any amount to Marathon Wild Bird Center , P. O. Box 501328 , Marathon , FL 33050 , or you can donate online. Because we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your donation is tax deductible. Remember: if you ever find a sick or injured bird, please give us a call at 305.743.8382. We answer this line 24 hours a day.
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Winter/Spring Events offer tons of fun!
In February, director Kelly Grinter had some fun taping a short "video clip of the week" for the Florida Keys Tourism Association's web site. It had been a while since Kelly was in front of a video camera, but luckily the friendly crew didn't mind repeating the takes until what she had to say about the birds and the Florida Keys came out smoothly. We'll let you know when and where you can view this video clip as soon as it's completed.
March was a busy month! In addition to tending to our patients, we spent the weekend of the 13th and 14th hosting our educational booth at Marathon's Original Seafood Festival. This year, more than 20,000 people attended the big event. As always, our fabulous volunteers stepped up to the plate to offer their help with erecting, manning and dismantling the booth. We had ample folks to talk to and answered many of the same questions over and over again, such as "Why do some pelicans have gold-colored heads while others have white heads?" or "If a bird loses a wing, can you transplant another one on?" Needless to say we educated a lot of people, reconnected with folks we haven't seen in a while and gained some new friends for the Bird Center . A special thank you goes out to Mary Slawson and Joanie Croton for all the hard work they put into making our "Treasure Table" a monetary success! Friends and volunteers donated new items that these ladies spent days boxing and wrapping. Once piled high on a lovely table in the booth, festival goers got to choose their "treasure" for a standard $10.00 donation! The fundraiser was not only fun, but also profitable for our feathered friends! Betsy the blind pelican, TJ the Burrowing Owl, Red the Red-shouldered Hawk and Sweetie the American Kestrel of Cuban descent each made appearances over the weekend to help us get our message out. We especially thank them for their continued good will efforts.
Soon after Easter Sunday we bid a fond farewell to a number of our awesome "snowbird volunteers." Unfortunately, they left a tad too early as we still had several more event obligations to fulfill. In early April volunteers Karyn Buckley and Rob Qually (our '09 summer intern, who will be joining us again this summer, was here to help on his spring break) took Red and Sweetie down to the Key West Botanical Garden for a live bird presentation. Migration Mania was in full swing at the garden and Karyn was asked to return after providing a smashing educational presentation last year! The next two weekends found our volunteer Rudy the Raptor Guy (aka Rudy Branchel) creating a positively successful hit with his presentations about how birds-of-prey become injured during migrations. His talk described the reasons the birds get hurt, how we attempt to rescue them and the various ways we rehabilitate them so they can "get on with it," meaning their migration! Rudy was very pleased that his latest protégé, Merlin, a Merlin Falcon he is training for us, gave an outstanding performance on this, one of his first public appearances.
To top off the spring, April was the 13th Annual Earth Day Celebration at Bahia State Park. Since our inception 15 years ago, we have participated at this event almost every year since they developed it. There is nothing more pleasant than spending a day overlooking the crystal clear waters of this award-winning park to end the season. Volunteer Joanie Croton joined director Kelly Grinter, Betsy the blind pelican and Sweetie the American Kestrel of Cuban descent at the booth. Lots of good-natured folks, both kids and adults, stopped by, admired our educational birds, asked questions and shared their stories with us. One lady, who arrived in a wheelchair, cautiously stood up so that she could reach into Betsy's playpen to feel how super soft and silky her feathers are. The lady was almost in tears as she announced how much she had always wanted to touch a pelican.
Loon in the lagoon
Fifteen years ago, when the first loon patients arrived at the MWBC, their chances of survival were slim. The reason for that is that the Common Loon is one of the most difficult patients to rehab and successfully release. Director Kelly Grinter tried and tried to save these unique birds with little success. Loons' legs are set far back on their bodies to make them strong swimmers. This means they cannot stand or perch like other birds. The birds often develop keel (chest bone) and leg sores rather quickly when kept on a soft bed of linens. To make matters worse, these birds are only out of the water for one of four reasons: 1) they're flying!, 2) they occasionally sleep on the sea grass along the shoreline, 3) they're nesting along the edge of the water or 4) they're sick or injured. Since loons spend so much time in the water they have very thick down which can cause them to quickly overheat out of the water. Also, the down loses its waterproofing quality if it becomes soiled with fecal matter, such is the case when the bird is positioned on linens in a cage.
In the early days, Kelly contacted a loon expert in Massachusetts. Dr. Mark Pokras of Tufts University has extensive experience with loons and offered his advice. Unfortunately, it was hard advice to follow. Dr. Pokras advised Kelly that if she couldn't recondition a loon in a matter of two short weeks that it would be in the bird's best interest to euthanize it. This was a hard pill to swallow when a rehabber's goal is to return a bird to the wild, even if it does take a few weeks or months. Dr. Pokras explained the conditions mentioned above and pointed out that there are no loons in captive displays, at places like zoos and aquariums, because they don't do well in enclosures for extended periods of time.
However, a few years ago that all changed for the Bird Center. Knowing that loons need a large span of water from which to take off-- documented to be about one-quarter mile--Kelly decided to try an outpatient program with the next loon admitted to the Bird Center. Behind our facility at Crane Point is the Crane House. This is the original estate built on the property back in the 1950s. And, behind it sits a beautiful lagoon that the Crane Family used as their swimming hole--and it's less than one-quarter mile in length. The lagoon almost always boasts crystal clear saltwater that arrives via a grated culvert from the bay. A concrete patio along one side of the lagoon offers a place for people to stand. Other than that, the whole lagoon is surrounded by lush mangrove trees that prevent a loon from hopping out and escaping before it's ready. Volunteers constructed a floating loon platform just in case the patient became tired. Normally, loons sleep through the night on the water's surface, but a recuperating bird might become fatigued and fearful of drowning.
Over the years we have almost perfected our strategy for this "outpatient loon rehab." Once we examine a loon and determine it to be a good rehab candidate, we rehydrate it and coax it to eat fattening dead fish, such as capelin, on its own. If all goes well, we transfer the bird to the lagoon usually within the first 72 hours after the rescue. Our latest loon patient was rescued from the shoreline of Grassy Key on March 11th. This adult female loon, still in winter plumage, had become emaciated because of a mass of driftnet material that was tightly wrapped around her bill. Not only could she not open her mouth, but also her jaws had become infected from the rubbing of the thin monofilament netting. After three days of rehydrating fluids, tasty capelin (a fish that is naturally part of a loon's diet) and antibiotics, we moved the bird to the lagoon. At first we were afraid we may have made the decision to put the loon in the lagoon too soon. The bird stayed toward the back of the lagoon which was too far for us to throw it the fish it needed twice a day to get stronger. Volunteer JD Fagan slipped one of our kayaks into the lagoon and quietly paddled to its far side. From a closer vantage point he tossed fish in her direction. Amazingly, she took the bait, so to speak, and dove under for the sinking meal. Success! For the next 24 hours we kayaked over to the loon to toss her fish. Luckily, we soon found that if we waved her breakfast or dinner in the air from the concrete patio she would dive under water and swim in our direction. We d toss the fish in her path. She'd snag and consume it under water and then turn to swim away. It might be a minute or two before she d resurface. Apparently our loon patient loved her new "hospital room" and continued to thrive. Then the time came when we asked just how do we think we re going to get this loon out of the lagoon . . . to release her back into the wild? After weeks of debating the dilemma we stumbled upon a possible solution. In the meantime Loony Tunes continued to grow stronger and stronger, eating fewer fish at her scheduled feedings because she was no longer in such dire need or she was fishing on her own in the lagoon!
It was at our booth at the Bahia Honda Earth Day Celebration recently that director Kelly Grinter said "Eureka !" A visitor to the booth asked her if there were any loons in the Keys. Kelly responded with a yes, followed by her own surprise. She remembered that in 1998 a couple researchers studying the effects of mercury on loons had approached her. They were looking for someone with a boat who would take them out to locate loons. The trips were scheduled late at night, departing the dock in the dark at 11:00 p.m. The reason was that they were trying to locate loons that were asleep on the water's surface. While out on her friend's pontoon boat with the researchers, Kelly noticed the scientist offering an eerie loon-like call into the darkness. She asked what he was doing and he said, "I'm calling loons, asking them "Where are you, where are you?" Amazingly in response, a wild, free floating loon would answer, "Over here, over here"! As it turned out, loons are a lot like a deer in a car's headlights . . . they basically freeze when the light is shone directly into their eyes. The result was that the group could move right up to the wild loon and scoop it up with a net to obtain blood and feather samples for mercury content before banding the bird and releasing it. Ah, "Eureka !" Kelly thought out loud at the booth at Bahia Honda! We'll put the kayaks back in the water later this week and, after the sun goes down, find our Loony Tunes, temporarily stun her with a flashlight to the eyes, net her and, if all goes well, release her into the bay within minutes! Stay tuned--we'll let you know how we make out in next month's online newsletter for the Marathon Wild Bird Center!
Special thanks!
Friends--thank you for your patience while we've been so busy helping our feathered friends this winter season!
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