Crews scramble to save cormorant eggs in wind-damaged tree in Marina del Rey
A eucalyptus tree in a Marina del Rey park that was home to dozens of soon-to-hatch double-crested cormorant eggs became unstable after strong winds, prompting a rescue mission to remove the eggs earlier this month.
A total of 20 nests holding more than 60 unhatched eggs and chicks were found on the failing tree inside Burton Chace Park. The tree's trunk split as a result of strong winds, causing a large piece to topple near a walkway leading to the park's parking lot.
The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors and the International Bird Rescue's Los Angeles Wildlife Center assembled a crew to move the eggs and chicks to a safer location. Two wildlife biologists assisted in the March 10 rescue operations, according a county news release Monday.
The eggs and chicks were sent to a wildlife center in San Pedro and the rest of the tree was cut down.
Most of the rescued nests contained three to four eggs, some of which had recently hatched. Double-crested cormorants are colonial nesters, meaning they build nests close together, usually in large numbers, and in elevated areas near water as their diet consists of various fish, according to the National Park Service.
Each parent takes turns incubating the eggs over a monthlong period, according to the beaches department.
'Feeding and caring for hatchlings is a delicate and time-consuming process, and Bird Rescue clinic staff are working into the night each day helping raise these birds,' the department said in a news release. 'Many of the rescued chicks may be in care for up to three months.'
It was not immediately clear where the birds will be released, or sent to, following the assisted care.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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