The first person who called the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center last month to report an injured juvenile herring gull in Gilroy thought the bird had been shot in the face with a pellet gun. A short while later, another call was received about the same gull from a person who believed it to have been hit head-first by a vehicle.
Once the gull was brought to WERC and examined, it was clear why there was confusion about the cause of injury-the bird’s eyes were tightly shut and bloody, there was blood in the nostrils and there was a spattering of mysterious black pepper-like dots all over the head. After careful washing, a closer look showed the eyes and beak didn’t appear injured after all. However, while applying an eye compress and eye drops, staff saw what at first was thought to be a clot of blood oozing from the nostril and removed it with tweezers. It turned out to be a leech! The nostrils were cleaned out delicately and as best possible.
An hour later, the bird was re-examined and – ick – another 2 centimeter long, squirming black leech was pulled out of the nostril. Now the gull was definitely breathing much better. Two days later, a third leech made an appearance and was removed. The gull’s eyes were cleaned daily to ensure that no leeches had infested them.
Apparently, the injury to the eyes was caused by the gull scratching at his head to rid himself of the parasites. The black dots were examined under a microscope and turned out to be either dead baby leeches or dried leech casings. Fortunately, no more blockage or blood could be seen and everyone crossed their fingers that they had seen the last of the bloodsuckers.
Online research shows that nasal leeches are actually rather common in water birds in Canada, Alaska and some Midwestern states. Ducks, geese and swans are most vulnerable because they spend so much time swimming and feeding in the water. In the more than 30 years they’ve been rehabilitating wildlife, WERC staff have never seen leeches on any of the animals admitted. To learn how the gull should best be treated, WERC contacted other California wildlife rehabilitators, including those that specialize in water birds, and discovered that leeches are a rarity in rehabilitation in the United States. Lucky us for finding that rare bird!
After ensuring that the gull was free of leeches and had no physical injuries, it was transferred to a flight enclosure with a swimming pool, into which the gull happily stepped and took a refreshing bath. The omnivorous bird was fed a variety of natural foods, including sardines and mackerel. One week later, on a clear and balmy day, the gull was released at a prime habitat – a local waterbird reserve. He flew into the large pond, splashed around a bit, then soared off to join a nearby flock (fittingly called a “screech” or “squabble”) of circling gulls.
By the way, don’t call them seagulls. There are laughing gulls, Belcher’s gulls and sooty gulls and, unquestionably, there are gulls that live by the sea, but there ain’t no such birds as seagulls! Don’t be misled by Richard Bach’s novella, “Jonathon Livingston Seagull.” It’s a very common misnomer, though, and rolls off the tongue more smoothly than “gull” which, by the way, also means “to make a fool of.” Certainly you’re close to being inundated with marauding hordes of flying scavengers at the beach or at Fisherman’s Wharf. But South Bay Area residents also experience raucous flocks of California gulls, ring-billed gulls and herring gulls at just about any inland landfill or garbage dump, and of course, at our local ponds.
