Take a closer look at this great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) and you’ll soon notice something that does not belong there. The female bird has a bamboo skewer lodged in her cloaca, the rear openings birds use to excrete and reproduce.
She was spotted in August on Cedar Beach on Long Island New York’s southern shore, and trying to catch her proved to be a bit of a wild seagull chase.
“The problem was that this gull was fully flighted, so catching her was going to be extremely difficult,” Janine Bendicksen, the Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation at Sweetbriar Nature Center in nearby Smithtown, tells Popular Science.
About one week after the first sighting, they asked volunteer wildlife rescuer Nancy Prior to try and capture this “seemingly uncatchable gull.” She set up a drop trap at Cedar Beach and was successful after three days of patiently waiting and gaining the gull’s trust. She was immediately brought back to Sweetbriar Nature Center, where the skewer was removed from the cloaca “slowly and very carefully.”
“The skewer was removed gradually to minimize any additional trauma,” Bendicksen explains. “Given the nature and location of the injury, we were extremely concerned about possible internal damage, so we were prepared to stop if there was any sign of resistance or injury. Fortunately, the skewer came out successfully, and amazingly, she had no internal injuries.”
After she was recovered, the team brought her back into the wild, where they were in for an even bigger surprise. The team had no idea she was a mother, having only observed her with other large groups of gulls. They got to watch this very lucky mother gull reunite with her baby.
Injured seagull reunites with her baby
“Watching the two of them find each other and reunite was priceless,” says Bendicksen. “After everything this bird had been through, seeing her return home and immediately reconnect with her baby was an incredibly emotional moment for all of us.”
The great black-backed gull is the world’s largest gull species. It has a wing span over five feet, and the adults of the species are easy to identify by their black backs and pink-hued legs. They are powerful birds and adaptable scavengers and hunters. And as this gull proved, pretty tough.
This rescue is another reminder of how much our garbage can impact wildlife. Reducing the amount of single-use items we use and ensuring proper disposal can help prevent animals from getting hurt or killed.
According to the team, it is also important for all of us to report an injured bird as soon as possible, and not just assume that someone else has called it in. Resources like your state’s department of agriculture website can help you find a licensed rescue organization in your area.
“A simple phone call, a photo, or reaching out to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can make the difference between life and death,” says Bendicksen.
Wildlife rescues also take a whole team, and the public can be part of the team by speaking up, sharing photos, or with donations. “Every successful rescue is often the result of many people working together to give an animal a second chance,” says Bendicksen.
