Our wildlife team has seen a significant surge in calls regarding seabirds that have needed rescued along our shores. Seabirds, or pelagic birds, are a species of bird that live in the open ocean and spend most of their time gliding above the waves. With many seabird species sadly now endangered, due to climate change and food scarcity, it is a real privilege when our wildlife team and volunteers can help these precious species of wildlife. Our team have been busy rescuing a range of seabirds from guillemots to gannets to fulmars and petrels, to name but a few.
We also had a call from a member of the public who spotted, what appeared to be, an injured bird sitting amongst the rocks at Helen’s Bay, which turned out to be a puffin - isn't he amazing! This little guy was rescued by our wildlife volunteer Mané and is currently going through rehabilitation before he can be released, as it is very usual for this little guy to be hanging around this time of year, so he might have been late hatching.
Seabirds are very unique and need special rehabilitation before they can be released, which has taken place in our centre in Newry and thanks to the help of our volunteers. We would also like to give a special thanks to the Irish Seabird Rehabilitation for their help in the rehabilitation of some of these rescues.
If you spot a seabird that you believe needs help, please contact the USPCA on 028 3025 1000 to get advice from our wildlife team. Some species of seabird can sit in one spot for long periods of time, which can be misinterpreted as injury, so it’s always best to get some advice before intervening.
