A pelican that was rescued by a Miami Beach Police officer after it struck a power line is on the mend.
The pelican does not have a name and there’s good reason for that.
"We actually don’t name any of our patients because we consider it bad luck in rehab, so none of our birds are named inside here,” said Carla Zepeda, with the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station in Miami.
What it does have is a fighting chance to live now at the Seabird Station. The bird had a rough start to the week to say the least.
"Our pelican decided to go hunting and crashed right in a power line and fall 20 feet right out of the air," Zepeda said.
It happened at the corner of Pine Tree Drive and 63rd Street in North Bay Village. So call in Miami Beach Police Officer Traci Sierra.
"In 17 years I think it was my first call involving a pelican," Sierra said.
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She could tell the bird was hurt so she brought her to the Seabird Station.
"I went and I picked her up, I could see she was in some form of distress. She was a little off and in shock and I put her in the back of a patrol car and brought her here,” Sierra said.
So on top of possibly being electrocuted and falling to the ground the bird has received some much needed treatment.
"So we gave her some fluids to hydrate her just in case, we gave her a pain medication and some anti-inflammatory in case of any swelling of the brain,” Zepeda said.
The bird has been to the Seabird Station before.
"She's one of our residents that frequent us almost every day here at the Sea Station, we have a flock of pelicans that try to steal fish from our patients and resident animals and she’s one of the offenders that comes in every day,” Zepeda said.
Since the bird is used to the staff there, she's acting calm, too calm to gauge the extent of her injuries. It’s a waiting game now to see if the bird will make a full recovery.
And also because of the bird’s feather color and weight the staff here believes she has a nest with babies. So they’re hoping to get her out as soon as possible.
