An unusual number of California brown pelicans — many dehydrated, emaciated, or injured — are turning up across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, prompting concern among wildlife rehabilitators and raising questions about broader environmental factors that could be contributing to the birds’ distress.
The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network has admitted 46 pelicans so far this month, with 22 birds currently in treatment, according to Pam Perrimon, the organization’s education and communications coordinator.
Most are starving and are from “very unusual locations,” Perrimon said. The pelicans have been found in unexpected inland or roadside locations, according to rehabilitation staff — behavior that can indicate severe weakness or neurological impairment. Some have also arrived with fractured bones or signs of hypothermia…