Rebecca Duerr

After major oil spills, hundreds to thousands of live stranded birds enter rehabilitative care. To target aspects of rehabilitative efforts for improvement and to evaluate which initial physical examination and biomedical parameters most effectively predict survival to release, medical records were examined from 913 Common Murres ( Uria aalge ; COMUs) oiled during the November 2001-January 2003 oil spill associated with the sunken S.S. Jacob Luckenbach off San Francisco, California, USA. Results showed that 52% of all deaths occurred during the first 2 days of treatment. Birds stranding closest to the wreck had greater amounts of oil on their bodies than birds stranding farther away. More heavily oiled birds were in better clinical condition than birds with lesser amounts of oil, as shown by higher body mass (BM), packed cell volumes (PCV), total plasma protein (TP), and higher survival proportions. Additionally, BM, PCV, TP, and body temperature (T) were positively correlated. For ...

Abstract: An increase in cases of metabolic bone disease (MBD) in chicks of six species of heron and egret (family Ardeidae) was identified at a wildlife rehabilitation center in the spring and summer of 2018. The outbreak affected 34.3% of birds in care for four or more days during the first 3 mo of the study and was the most common reason for euthanasia during that time. Cases were characterized by lameness, increased flexibility of multiple long bones, angular deformities, and bone fractures. Gross postmortem examinations were conducted on 145 nestlings and fledglings that died or were euthanatized either because of MBD or for unrelated conditions. Histology was performed in four cases and three controls. Histologic findings were characterized by multiple lesions in the appendicular long bones, including variable elongation of the physis, retention of cartilage cores in the metaphyseal primary spongiosa, poorly mineralized osteoid seams within the primary spongiosa, thinning or lack of diaphyseal cortical bone compaction, and folding fractures typically propagating through the physis–metaphyseal interface. Folding fractures were often associated with focal metaphyseal fibroplasia. The parathyroid gland diameter of birds diagnosed postmortem with MBD in care was significantly larger than that of unaffected birds. The authors hypothesized that a dietary deficiency of vitamin D3 because of low levels in the bird's captive diet of capelin (Mallotus villosus) was the cause of the MBD. Starting in mid-July every chick's diet was supplemented with 714 IU oral vitamin D3/kg body weight per day, after which the number of birds developing MBD declined to a rate of 4.3%. This study characterizes the clinical, gross, radiographic, and histologic features of vitamin D3-responsive MBD in young herons and egrets and provides evidence to support the recommendation that captive birds on a diet of capelin be supplemented with vitamin D3, especially during growth.

Gross necropsies were performed on all herons and egrets (family Ardeidae) that died or were euthanized at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Fairfield, California, over a six-week period in the summer of 2018 (n = 145). Of the animals necropsied, 108 (74.5%) were euthanized and 37 (25.5%) died. Common reasons for euthanasia were trauma (n = 24), MBD (n = 39) and non-specific signs such as hypothermia and obtundation that persisted in the face of medical and supportive care (n = 32). MBD was found both in birds at admission (n = 9) and later in care (n = 34), despite calcium supplementation to correct calcium:phosphorus ratios of foods. Feeder fish were suspected to be deficient in vitamin D, and supplementation successfully reduced the development of this problem during the care later in the season. Nematodes of the genus Eustrongylides were found in the coelomic cavities of 43 (30%) birds. High burdens were often accompanied by coelomitis and abscessation involving internal organ...

Abstract: Because of concerns regarding potential adverse effects of meloxicam in pelicans reported by several zoos and wildlife rehabilitation facilities, this study was undertaken to determine the pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of meloxicam in brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis). A pilot study was performed with 6 apparently healthy wild adult brown pelicans of unknown sex during rehabilitation, administered a single oral dose of meloxicam at 0.2 mg/kg. Plasma drug concentrations were monitored for 24 hours but failed to capture the elimination phase of the drug. Consequently, a principal study monitored plasma concentrations for 120 hours. Six additional adult wild brown pelicans, 3 males and 3 females, approaching releasable condition in rehabilitation were split into 3 groups and each orally administered 0.2 mg/kg meloxicam. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at 4 additional time points that differed between groups. Plasma concentrations were measured with...

From August through December 2015, beachcast bird survey programs reported increased deposition of common murres ( Uria aalge) on central and northern California beaches, but not on southern California beaches. Coastal wildlife rehabilitation centers received more than 1,000 live, stranded, and debilitated murres from Sonoma County to San Luis Obispo County during August-October. Approximately two-thirds of admitted birds were after-hatch-year birds in emaciated body condition and in various stages of molt, with extremely worn plumage. Necropsies were done on a sample ( n=35) of birds to determine the probable cause of death of beachcast carcasses. Most birds examined during necropsy were emaciated, with starvation the most likely cause of death. Birds were also tested for underlying infectious diseases at the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) and harmful algal bloom toxins at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the National Oceanographic and Atmos...

Seabirds are known to be vulnerable to biotoxins produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs). The ingestion of prey contaminated with biotoxins such as domoic acid can cause disorientation, seizures, morbidity, and mortality (Work and others 1993). During November 2007 in Monterey Bay, California, an unprecedented stranding of live and dead seabirds highlighted plumage fouling as an emerging mortality factor during harmful algal bloom (HAB) events. The fouling agent was a proteinaceous foam derived from the cellular breakdown of the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea. This foam coated seabird plumage in a manner similar to fouling by petroleum oil (Hartung 1967; McEwan and Koelink 1973; National Research Council 1985), causing waterlogging, hypothermia, morbidity, and mortality in the California birds (Jessup and others 2009). During late October 2009 along the southern Washington and northern Oregon State coasts, algal blooms caused another seabird plumage fouling event, where several bird species were coated in a foam surfactant. Water and feather samples confirmed that this dinoflagellate bloom was also A. sanguinea (Dr. Raphael Kudela, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, pers. comm.). Du and others (in press) describe the conditions that facilitated the A. sanguinea bloom off the Oregon coast and propose that the source of the bloom was southward transport of cells from a massive September bloom that first occurred off the Washington coast. Similar to the 2007 California event, the foam produced by the WashingtonOregon bloom reduced the waterproofing of birds’ plumage, causing hypothermia in individual birds and leading to the stranding of hundreds of debilitated live and dying seabirds on public beaches. During this event, volunteers and federal, state, and local resource management agencies collected as many birds as possible for rescue and rehabilitation from the Long Beach Peninsula, WA; Fort Stevens State Beach, OR; and Cannon Beach, OR. Most of the birds collected were initially delivered to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast (WCNC) rehabilitation facility in Astoria, OR, where volunteers observed that birds were cold, weak, stressed, and starving. Due to the magnitude of this event, the WCNC facility was quickly overwhelmed by hundreds of collected seabirds, which included Common Loons (Gavia immer), Common Murres (Uria aalge), Pacific Loons (G. pacifica), Red-throated Loons (G. stellata), Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata), and Western and Clark’s Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis and A. clarkii). Birds were subsequently transferred to facilities that were better equipped to handle large numbers of seabirds for rehabilitation, including the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in Cordelia, CA (n 5 479 birds), and Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Lynnwood, WA (n 5 125). Some birds responded well to supportive care and were eventually 1 We dedicate this manuscript to the men and women at US Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, who donated their time and use of the C-130 Hercules aircraft to transport seabirds. This same Coast Guard aircraft crashed off the coast of San Diego, CA on 30 October 2009, within days of responding to the HAB event documented in this manuscript. All hands on board that aircraft were lost. We honor their memory and service. GENERAL NOTES

Page 1. 35 Passerines: House Finches, Goldfinches, and House Sparrows Rebecca Duerr and Guthrum Purdin 381 NATURAL HISTORY ... As long as these requirements are met, it is not necessary to fully restrain the hock or knee joints, or bind the leg to the body. ...