A western snowy plover — a rare bird native to San Diego — was released back into the wild on Thursday, ending a weekslong rehabilitation that required specialized care from the veterinarians at the San Diego Humane Society campus in Morena, officials said.
The bird’s journey first began in 2020, when she, as still an unhatched egg, was removed from a high-risk area, Humane Society spokesperson Nina Thompson said.
According to the San Diego Bird Alliance, the western snowy plover lays its eggs in loose sand with little cover along the Pacific coastline, leaving its nest largely unprotected from high tides and weather.
A western snowy plover, a species of special concern in San Diego County, has returned to the wild following a successful rehabilitation at San Diego Humane Society’s Pilar & Chuck Bahde Wildlife Center. (San Diego Humane Society)
Additionally, if humans on the beach disturb or damage the bird’s habitat, adult plovers will abandon their nests for long periods of time, endangering the unhatched chicks, the bird alliance said.
Despite three decades of statewide conservation efforts, only about 2,000 breeding plovers remain in California, and they’re classified as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act, according to the National Park Service.
After the egg was rescued six years ago, it was taken to SeaWorld San Diego, where it eventually hatched, Thompson said. The female hatchling remained in SeaWorld’s care until she reached maturity. She was then banded, released back into the wild in 2022 and monitored from afar by researchers at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
But four years later, the bird was found on Jan. 20 by a zoo biologist in Coronado, who noted the bird had suffered a leg injury, Thompson said.
She was once again placed into human care, this time taken to the Humane Society’s Pilar and Chuck Bahde Wildlife Center for treatment, Thompson said.
A western snowy plover that was rehabilitated at the San Diego Humane Society is released back into the wild on Thursday. (San Diego Humane Society)
Photos released by the animal organization show veterinarians taking radiographs to ensure nothing was broken in the bird’s leg, as well as giving the bird medication to decrease the pain and swelling from the injury, Thompson said. The bird also spent her recovery time in sand-bottomed cages to distribute the weight on her feet.
This week, caretakers released the bird once more and stood on the beach as the western snowy plover took flight over waves that crashed against the sandy coastline.
“This bird represents the incredible synergy between San Diego’s conservation organizations,” said Dr. Alexis Wohl, wildlife veterinary manager at San Diego Humane Society. “From her start as a rescued egg at SeaWorld to years of monitoring by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and finally her recovery here at San Diego Humane Society, her story shows what we can achieve when we work together to protect our region’s most vulnerable species.”