Bullock’s Oriole: From Nearly Frozen to Death to Living a New Life in the West

The Bullock’s oriole, which came from our friends at the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre last week, was officially released Tuesday morning!

The weather couldn’t have been better. It was a beautiful, sunshiny day in Port Coquitlam, where the bird was released at Colony Farm Community Gardens by Acting Mayor of Coquitlam Councillor Teri Towner. Members of the media from CBC, CTV and Global captured the full story!

This bird’s journey is nothing short of spectacular. It was first found by a wildlife photographer in eastern Canada in December 2015, nearly frozen to death. Not only was this bird far off its normal migration path, but it was clearly not able to manage the extreme cold. That’s when it was brought to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre.

It took them a full year to rehabilitate this animal and reach out to us at Wildlife Rescue to return the bird back to its native homeland.

After it came to us on Wednesday, August 16, the team we have here made sure it was in good health and acclimatized the bird back to the West Coast. Finally, it tasted freedom on Tuesday.

A huge thank you to all the staff and volunteers involved with this release. From our animal care team, to the admin staff who handled all the logistics, to Air Canada for providing first-class flight accommodations, and to the final release team. It’s because of you all this Bullock’s oriole has a second chance at life!

Posted in Education
Tags: animal rescue, bird release, canadian bird rescue, oriole