SLO County pelicans are starving. Pacific Wildlife Care is trying to save them
An unusual number of brown pelicans are starving on San Luis Obispo County shores, according to local wildlife group.
Pacific Wildlife Care, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center based in Morro Bay, noticed an increase in brown pelican patients during late April.
The pelicans arrived at the center starving, emaciated and close to death — and biologists aren’t sure what’s caused the condition, director Vann Masvidal said.
So far, none of the pelicans treated at Pacific Wildlife Care had an illness that could explain their condition, he said.
“Sometimes we do see large influxes of sea birds depending on what’s happening in the weather and in the ocean,” Masvidal said.
Pacific Wildlife Care nurses starving pelicans back to health
Since April 20, the center has treated 35 brown pelicans, according to Masvidal. Most of those pelicans were juvenile birds, about 2 years old, suffering from starvation, he said.
The pelicans have slowly trickled into the facility. Sometimes, the center received five or six pelicans in a day, while other days they received less.
Regardless, “nobody brought a semi-truck full of pelicans,” he said.
As of Thursday, 13 pelicans were still in treatment, while 22 had died at the center.
When the center receives a starving pelican, they start by warming the bird in a special dryer. Masvidal warned readers not to try this procedure at home, as they could harm the birds with the wrong equipment.
Then, they give the pelican fluids and defrosted frozen anchovies if they’re able to eat.
The center rehabilitates the pelicans for about three weeks, giving them the chance to get their strength back, before releasing them back into the wild.
Masvidal expects that Pacific Wildlife Care will be able to release the remaining 13 pelicans after they recuperate.
“Any wild animal that needs care should receive that care,” he said. “The reasons that they’re here are often directly or indirectly caused by people, and we have the responsibility to treat them.”
If you see a pelican in distress in the wild, don’t touch the bird, and then call Pacific Wildlife Care for help at 805-543-9453.
Why are pelicans starving?
The center does not know why more pelicans are in distress than usual, Masvidal said, but this isn’t the first time Pacific Wildlife Care noticed an increase in pelican deaths.
In 2022, wildlife care centers from San Diego to San Francisco observed an increase in starvation among brown pelicans, he said.
That year had one of the windiest springs on record, and those high winds likely made it difficult for pelicans to hunt for fish in the ocean, according to Masvidal.
Pelicans hunt by flying high above the ocean to search for fish, then they plunge from about 60 feet in the air down to the water to catch their prey.
“They’ll be flying, they see a fish, then they plunge dive to catch it,” Masvidal said.
Pelicans struggle to spot fish when high winds make the water choppy — so sometimes the birds go hungry during windy weather, he said.
Brown pelicans also have a massive wingspan, similar to a kite, so high winds make it difficult for them to dive down to the water.
While San Luis Obispo County hasn’t had an abnormally windy spring, southern parts of the coast have, according to Masvidal. Those pelicans could be showing up on local beaches, he said.
