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Pelican Rescued in Essex Now a Wildlife Ambassador

A brown pelican rescued from the frigid waters of Middle Cove in Essex last January faced some challenges as she recuperated at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Florida, but is now a wildlife ambassador, helping to educate the public about her species.

“She’ll be able to help us educate the public when people come and visit the sanctuary, if we do any kind of wildlife encounter programs, things like that,” said Carolina Young, marketing director at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. “We get a lot of school field trips that come over.

“The great thing is she’ll be able to be a part of the educational programs that we do here in Jupiter and Palm Beach County, so we’re really excited about that,” continued Young.

The pelican, who was given the name “Arvy,” was found in Middle Cove by Andrew “Andy” Griswold of the Connecticut Audubon Society’s EcoTravel office in Essex on Jan. 27, 2021. Pelicans are typically found in warmer regions, along inland and coastal water bodies.

“So, unfortunately, she was caught up in the really hazardous cold up there,” said Young. “She had pneumonia, so she had to be treated for pneumonia for quite a while. She had intense frost bite on her little feet. We had to amputate quite a bit of her little feet, her little webs.”

Young said veterinarians performed two different surgeries to repair the bird’s feet due to the extensive frostbite.

“She had to learn how to pretty much...walk again, how to perch again, how to just be comfortable and adapt to her new way of living,” said Young. “But thankfully, she turned a corner.”

Arvy now shares a water habitat with other birds, like brown pelicans, seagulls, and ducks.

“We waited until she was absolutely ready, until she could be introduced to her new home, her new little water habitat with her other roommates and she just took right to it,” said Young. “She just did so great.”

The pelican’s loss of toes and foot webbing, which affects balance and perching, played a major role in the sanctuary’s decision not to release her back into the wild, according to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Director Amy Kight.

“We didn’t want to send out this beautiful brown pelican out to the wild if she is not able to stand on her own two feet, literally and figuratively,” said Young. “It was just the intensity and how much had to be amputated off her feet that was a major part of that decision.”

The sanctuary takes in about 6,000 animals a year and the number it releases to the wild is consistent with the national annual release rate average of 35 percent, according to Kight.

Prior to being transported to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary last year by Arianna and Laurie Strand, a mother and daughter pilot team, the pelican was cared for at the Killingworth-based birds of prey rehabilitation center, A Place Called Hope, Inc.

Here are some photos to go along with an article on Arvy the pelican.