Officer Mullen reports…
This week Officer Keefe and I were both called out to the beach on three separate occasions for pelicans with injured wings. My call came earlier in the week when a family who was out enjoying the weather by the ocean noticed a pelican laying down near the water. Upon closer inspection they saw that the bird had a severely injured wing with visible bone protruding from the wing. They gave us a call at dispatch (tel:415-554-9400) and gave the closest street intersection off the Great Highway. They stood by and flagged me down as I walked down the beach. I was able to use a towel and gloves to properly wrap and carry the bird back to the van. A few days later Officer Keefe had two back-to-back calls for injured pelicans. For the first one, she thankfully had the help of two surfers to act as a visual block for the still active and very mobile pelican who had a clean puncture wound on the inside of the left wing area. Her second call took her further down the beach where she found a much more injured pelican who was suffering from a compound fracture of the wing. She had to secure him in a towel and walk up the long and treacherous sand stairs at Fort Funston. The bird with the more minor injuries was able to be transferred down the Peninsula Humane Society to start the road to recovery and rehabilitation. The injuries of the other two birds that were caught were too severe for rehabilitation and had to be humanely euthanized. At least we know that these beautiful birds will not continue to suffer on the shoreline.
A pelican’s wingspan can reach up to 10 feet long and they are one of the heaviest birds, with the largest ones weighing over 25 pounds. Pelicans can fly for over 24 hours without any stopover at a speed of up to 35mph. These birds can hold up to 3 gallons of water in their pouch and use the pouch to flood both fish and water in. Then the bird slightly opens his bill, tilts his head to the side and all the water falls out, leaving the delicious fish inside for consumption. You may see gulls hanging out with pelicans to try and score an easy meal, as the pelican tilts his head to release the water, oftentimes a gull will swoop down and try to steal a fish from the pouch.
If you notice any sick or injured shore birds at the beach, please give our dispatchers a call at 415-554-9400 and let them know where you are. Dropping a pin on your map on your phone and sending that to us is the best way for us to find the injured birds on the expansive shoreline of San Francisco. Thank you for alerting us to the injured animals of San Francisco and helping us find them.
