One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
International Bird Rescue Center Saves 50 Tern Chicks Who Fell Overboard
Rescued tern chicks are being cared for by International Bird Rescue.
(
Courtesy International Bird Rescue
)
More than 50 elegant tern chicks that fell out of their nest on a barge in Long Beach will be spending the next weeks being nursed back to health.
Elegant terns are those white seabirds with long, narrow beaks and distinctive black feathers on their heads. Those are the same kind of birds that were forced to abandon thousands of nests in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve, when an amateur drone crashed there back in May.
Kylie Clatterbuck with the International Bird Rescue Center in San Pedro says they think the chicks in Long Beach may have been scared off the barge by loud boaters or fireworks going off around the 4th of July weekend.
"You know unfortunately these birds are so young that they're unable to fly, so once they fall off the barges they're unable to get back up," Clatterbuck explained. "And because they're not fully grown they don't have the feather structure that we're used to seeing with a lot of our seabirds that helps them to be waterproof in the water."
Clatterbuck says the birds will probably need about six weeks of care before they've developed enough to survive on their own. That's about the same amount of time that elegant terns typically spend with their parents learning how to feed in the wild.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
