Rash of crashing pelicans

A pelican’s crash into a car’s windshield recently in Laguna Beach set off a series of comparisons about a 1960s occurrence of drunken birds attacking humans and crashing into buildings.

The brown pelican was one of many birds that were reported as behaving strangely to the Huntington Beach-based Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.

The center received 16 calls recently about pelicans walking down Pacific Coast Highway at several locations in Orange County, perching on a lawn chair in a backyard, or staggering around on neighborhood streets, said center director Debbie McGuire.

The Laguna Beach pelican, now named “Crash” by her caregivers, is awaiting tests that will likely confirm her to be suffering from domoic acid poisoning. “Crash” is now in stable condition and will be released after volunteers deem her capable of returning to the wild.

Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced by red-tide algae in the ocean, which when ingested can damage the brain and cause epileptic seizures in extreme cases.

“Crash” suffered a broken foot and a gash in her pouch after crashing into the windshield of the car on June 22. The car’s occupant was unhurt.

About 10 birds were delivered to the center earlier in the week.

“Pelicans are getting hit very hard right now,” assistant director Lisa Birkle said.

Some young pelicans that haven’t honed their diving and hunting skills have arrived at the center, emaciated and in various stages of starvation.

The young birds may not have spent enough time with their parents learning the tools of life, McGuire said.

In the last domoic acid outbreak in early April, about 20 pelicans were brought to the center and several died as a result of it.

McGuire fears the neurotoxin could enter the food chain and cause fatal poisoning in human beings.

Another pelican that fell into a dumpster containing oil from a Chinese restaurant was brought into the center.

Volunteers nicknamed the bird “Chinese” affectionately, as he reeked of Chinese food as he was being cleaned and cared for.

The center, housed currently in a shed-like space, is coping heroically, trying to provide the best-possible care for an influx of about 600 birds and animals in a month ? with just one part-time employee.

About 100 volunteers work around the clock to feed, monitor and rehabilitate geese, herons, egrets, Western gulls, mallards, squirrels and raccoons.

The center recently released about 600 mallards into the wild with another 300 of them being phased into freedom.

Volunteers are hoping a new building for the center, at Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street, will help house and care for more animals.

A previous grant of $600,000 was supposed to have helped pay for the building, McGurie said. But with the tripling in costs of construction materials, they need another $250,000 to complete the building.

“I’m just waiting for Paul McCartney to read about us and call us,” McGuire joked.

“We’re saving the world one bird at a time,” volunteer Linda Adams said.hbi.29-pelican-1-cw-CPhotoInfoLL1SE1B020060629j1jyuvncCHRISTOPHER WAGNER / INDEPENDENT(LA)Susan Kabeggia, left, and Lisa Birkle measure “Crash” the pelican to determine the sex of the bird at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center Tuesday.