Oiled Common Murre Washed

The following story about a common murre was shared with us by International Bird Rescue in California.

This last May, a petroleum oil contaminated common murre was rescued from Monterey, California, and brought into care at International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Wildlife Center from our partners at Monterey: SPCA Wildlife Center.

In addition to being oiled, this bird was dehydrated, emaciated, and had a murre-specific blood parasite, Babesia uriae.

For the first few days in care and prior to washing, the murre was tubed EmerAid IC Piscivore to provide stabilizing nutritional support. Within 48 hours, the murre was gaining weight steadily and became self-feeding. After washing the oil off using Dawn soap, the bird continued to make positive progress.

After receiving treatment for the blood parasites, this bird was successfully released back to the wild less than a month later.