Record Year For Eastham's Feathered Patients

17 January, 2025 – EASTHAM, MA – Winter on Cape Cod may be quiet in terms of tourism, but other unique visitors come here in abundance, some traveling thousands of miles to reach our shores. Every year wildlife rehabilitators at Wild Care in Eastham see more and more migrant seabirds are currently filling the rehabilitation kennels and pools at Wild Care in Eastham, and they believe climate change could be one of the reasons for the record number of patients.

Winter on Cape Cod may not see many tourists, but there are other visitors flying thousands of miles every off-season to reach our shores. This winter has proven to be a real duck year for Cape Cod and at Wild Care in Eastham, the rehabilitation kennels and pools are filled with sea birds. Stephanie Ellis, executive director says each year sets a new record of feathered patients.

"Right now we have a surf scoter in our care, we e have two white winged scoters, two black scoters, and so that represents the three species of Scoter actually in North America," says Ellis.
"And then we have a long tailed duc, three Cory's Sheerwaters."

The latter, Ellis explains, are pelagic birds meaning the spend their lives out at sea. They breed outside Portugal and come to feast in Cape Cod's nutrient-filled waters in the winters.

Though these species are common here, it is very uncommon for Wild Care to have this many of them at once. Ellis believes the weather has something to do with the record number. "What typically brings these birds in is Northeast storms. That's when we (...) get the bathtubs ready, because we're gonna get a lot of seabirds."

But how do you take care of ducks? Well, you gotta make sure to have them all in a row, you know, figuratively.

"Taking care of a sea duck is an arduous task, and we are here for it," says Ellis. "So what we do is when we get these ducks (...) they get an exam and (...) x-rays, and then we hydrate them, and then we can begin providing nutrition based on their body condition."

When the birds are showing signs of strength, it is time for swim training – a key component in getting them to start waterproofing their feathers.

“When they're feeling well, they will naturally preen their feathers, which means they align them, the feathers zip together to repel water. But also, birds have a gland on their rump that secretes oils, and so they squeeze that and they rub it on their feathers, and it maintains the integrity of the feathers. It waterproofs them, it deters parasites," Ellis explains. "And so when they're not feeling well, they're not preening.

The rehabilitators don't release the patients until water is rolling off of the duck's backs, literally.

"My staff look at their waterproofing and actually dig through the feathers. There are very different layers of waterproofing, and so we just need to make sure that no water is penetrating their or saturating their feathers at all," says Ellis. Water saturating the feathers means hypothermia in the feathered world.

"The water should make beads on the duck's back and literally roll off. We also fly the ducks. And what I mean by that is my staff holds them and allow them to flap."

Once the birds "check all the boxes" Ellis and her staff look for places rich in the species being released. "And right now, the sea ducks are everywhere. It's wonderful."

We are nearing the end of the coastal waterfowl hunting period in Massachusetts, but Ellis has promised her patients that they will be released into the wild once the hunting period is over. These feathered friends are safe this season.