Dozens of bird eggs and chicks were rescued from nests in a single wind-damaged eucalyptus tree that was dangerously close to collapsing in a California park.
Now staff at the International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center have been working around the clock to care for the 47 eggs and 12 chicks, all double-crested Cormorants, in hopes that they will be able to be released back into the wild in a few months.
The tree at a park in Marina del Rey was flagged earlier this month after one of its trunks fell and crushed a trash bin enclosure, explained Nicole Mooradian, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches & Harbors. Its other trunk was showing signs of collapsing as well, threatening not only the birds but anyone on the nearby public walkway or in the parking lot next door.
“It wasn’t a question of if this tree is going to fail, it was more of a when,” she said Monday. “The cracks were growing wider by…