Western Australian Seabird Rescue

30/08/2024

More fishing-related injuries...

This poor silver gull was reported to us at Hillarys Boardwalk - Hillarys Boat Harbour - a notorious hotspot for fishing line injuries and strewn fishing tackle.

A squid jig had hooked the gull in multiple spots under its wing, affecting its ability to fly. Members of public noticed it because it was savagely being attacked by ravens! By time our volunteers arrived, it had disappeared. Luckily, the following day it was called in to our hotline again at a nearby park with a fountain. After a brisk swim in the lake, a volunteer nabbed it in a hand net and we're glad to say it's now with our friends at WA Wildlife where it's already had the squid jig removed and is bandaged up. Let's hope it can make a full recovery and fly free soon.

Recfishwest Caitlin Collins MLA

29/08/2024

👏 Huge shoutout to our new volunteer who single-handedly caught this poor pelican at . When our experienced rescuers arrived, they were amazed to see that Trev had already done the hard work!

The poor pelican had three separate hooks! One in its beak, one in its wing and one on its bum. So we suspect it is a serial bait-thief who scabs off of people fishing. Please do not feed pelicans and shoo them away when fishing. These interactions cause frequent injuries for our seabirds.

A special congrats to our new volunteer, Trev, on his first solo pelican rescue! Love reacts for the pelican and the wonderful team at who will investigate the injuries and nurse it back to full health.

28/08/2024

A really busy day on the phones yesterday - 32 calls to the WASR number today resulting in 17 rescue call outs for our volunteers - a very busy day for phone managers and rescuers.

A big thank you to all our volunteers who dedicate their time to rescuing our beautiful birds. 🩵 And the wonderful members of public who took the time to call us.

If you see a bird that needs help give us a call (08) 6102 8464.

27/08/2024

Straight from the airport and right to a rescue! 🏃‍♂️

Volunteer Craig, skillfully caught this darter with a beak-entanglement using his trusty net launcher. The entanglement was removed and this little lady was set free.

Please pick up and foreign materials that don’t belong in our wetlands. This fabric could have been a death sentence. Report entangled darters to our hotline on (08) 6102 8464

Release video in the comments 🌈

27/08/2024

As volunteers we sometimes have to make difficult decisions when performing a rescue.

Recently one of our volunteers when to a call out regarding a beak entangled Darter which had been reported by a member of the public. Other WASR rescuers had seen it, but it was so wary they couldn’t get close.

This day this volunteer found it quickly, sitting at the end of a jetty on a canal. Armed with all the rescue tools he crept along the jetty but it was very wary and flew off. It landed on the flat top of a seemingly abandoned boat at the next jetty. He crept along that jetty, it was watching him warily, but he managed to get onto the boat. It couldn’t see him, and as our volunteer wondered how he could get it with the net launcher it occurred to him that its rear was hanging over the edge of the roof - within grabbing distance.

The Darter was so wary and so entangled that there might not be another opportunity - it was a “now or never” moment.

Our volunteer managed to safely grab the darter and a wonderful passer by helped to control the bird while our volunteer removed the material. After a quick check, it was released it and it flew off with no trouble. 👏🏼

Entanglements are absolutely awful to see and detrimental to a birds health.

Here's how you can help:

✅ If you see an entangled bird give us a call (08) 6102 8464

✅ Always take your rubbish with you if there's no bins around

✅ Safely dispose of fishing lines and hooks

✅ Share our social media posts to help us spread awareness

24/08/2024

Light at the end of the tunnel (literally) ✨

A lady was walking her dog when she saw a duckling fall down a storm water drain. She went to a nearby house and asked if they could call us. 📞

Our rescuer went to the location and was looking down the drain when a local resident offered a hand to open the drain. He helped tremendously in this rescue and had every tool you could imagine to successfully open the drain.

Once the drain was open and the rescuer could see into it clearly she realised the drain had a pipe connecting it to the next drain down and of course the duckling was in the middle of the pipe between the two drain openings.

After opening the second drain the rescucer played wood duck calls from her phone which encouraged the little one to appear in the drain and be caught.

Eventually it popped its little head out and was safely caught and taken to where it was placed with other orphaned wood ducks. 🩵

A huge thank you to 3 members of the public who made this rescue a success.

We might not be ninja turtles but this rescue got close 😉

23/08/2024

This is a great way to help our mission! AND as a bonus, you will probably spot some amazing birdlife along our rivers as you take a leisurely stroll 😍

Can you help us, help wildlife? 🙏🎣 If you follow Western Australian Seabird Rescue, you will have seen some of the horrific injuries birds suffer from recreational fishing gear, and all the effort that goes into rescuing these birds. But as you know, our dolphins are also impacted, with Dunedoo's calf still entangled in fishing line.

🚮 We have over 100 fishing line bins installed across the state to encourage fishers to dispose of their unwanted gear responsibly. We know this is not a complete solution, but it does make a difference and this project depends on dedicated volunteers who regularly empty their 'adopted' bin.
🗑💛We are currently searching for more volunteers for bins at Chidley Point Mosman Park, Middle Swan Reserve, Lilac Hill Caversham, Windan Bridge (Stadium side), Narrows Bridge (Perth side), Shelley Bridge, Kent St Weir Wilson and Quinns Rock. You can check their location here: https://www.riverguardians.com/projects/reel-it-in/adopt-a-bin/

🙏If you can help, please contact us at [email protected]

📷photo by Sue Harper

22/08/2024

Quiz time!

Who is this lovely fellow?

A) Pacific black duck
B) Shelduck
C) Wood duck

Place your answer in the comments below ⬇️

21/08/2024

One of these things is not like the others...

🦆 Meet our little quackers! We've got 6 Pacific Black Ducks and 1 Wood Duck in the mix spending the night in ICU 🥰 These orphaned ducklings are now safe and sound with us after a terrifying evening on Perth's busy roads, which caused their parents to flee. We have our fingers crossed that we can arrange a successful adoption tomorrow morning with a mother duck who doesn't mind taking a few extras on! 💛

20/08/2024

Every entangled Gull has a silver lining…

The Seagull had braided fishing line around both feet, the wings and the beak! But of course it could still fly, but only short hops. Every time our volunteer Danny got close, off it flew - and within centimetres of the lake 😱 he managed to put a tree between him and the Seagull, and activated stealth mode in order to use the net launcher to safely catch the Gull.

A wonderful member of the public saw Danny and offered to help remove the line and between them they were able to remove it all. Definitely easier with two!

The Silver lining? This bird would have almost certainly died without help - but with the help of the person who called it in, our wonderful volunteer Danny and a member of the public who lent a helping hand this Seagull was rescued and released.

PLEASE SHARE TO RAISE AWARENESS

20/08/2024

Looking for an easy way to make a difference to our beautiful water birds and seabirds?

If you see discarded fishing line or tackle please safely dispose of it in the nearest bin or fishing line disposal box. 🎣

By doing this the number of birds injured by entanglement can be drastically decreased.

If you see a bird that has been entangled give us a call 📞 on (08) 6102 8464

17/08/2024

Thank you so much alleycat.espresso for getting this juvenile seagull to safety and keeping safe until our volunteer rescuers arrived yesterday.

This little one was taken to Native Animal Rescue AU to receive treatment and care.

17/08/2024

An easy way to support the work we do in the community is to simply SHARE all our posts.

Many people don’t realise the impact of rubbish or fishing gear on our wildlife and many people don’t realise there is an army of volunteers out there who are passionate about our wildlife and willing to go to great lengths to help them.

While we are very grateful for, and rely on donations, not everyone can afford to donate but EVERYONE can be a wildlife ambassador and do good just by raising awareness about the threats our wildlife face and the help that can be provided.

Please scroll back and share a few recent posts to your own page and get that awareness happening.

If you come across injured seabirds or waterbirds call us on

(08) 6102 8464

16/08/2024

The Miraculous Tale of an unwell Pelican called ‘Miss Leechy’ 🪱

After two days of chasing this reported pelican around the suburbs of Joondalup, volunteers Xander and Billie finally caught her. Her blood count was essentially zero as she was sucked dry by leeches!

After six weeks of expert care at WA Wildlife she was released at Lake Yellagonga. 🌈 Be free, healthy and happy!

Big thanks to everyone involved in her capture, recovery and release. Particularly our volunteer Graham who went out looking for her three separate times and Maud who answered the many phone calls we received about her.

Please SHARE this beautiful story.

16/08/2024

Relocation success for this mum duck and her 10 ducklings. 🐥

This family was safely relocated from a backyard back to their home at Lake Jualbup.

The family who called this in went to check back in on them the next day and they spotted them happily swimming in the lake. 🩵

14/08/2024

A magpie flies into a bar… and then can’t find their way out!

Our volunteers always find a way

A late night rescue and release

Thanks to volunteer Mr T

14/08/2024

Two of our wonderful volunteers went out with the Rockingham Marine Rescue crew🛥 to release this beautfiul Southern Giant Petrel.

This bird had severe anaemia and was very flat on admission, but after a month in care he was ready to go home. He went from a thin 2.5kg to a much better weight of 4.4kg. It was great to see him using those huge wings! Thank you to everyone involved in this rescue.

It's absolutely wonderful when we get the chance not only to recue a bird but to also attend the release.

12/08/2024

‼️ Yacht clubs, community centres and city councils - Can you help us?

We don't have a depot or sub-centre to meet and need somewhere to store our PPE, community stall equipment and a bit of extra gear.

We've received shocking quotes from 24/7 storage facilities and would prefer to find a free storage option so more of our money can go directly to rescue and rehabilitation-related activities.

Please reach out if you can help our registered charity ❤️ (Ways to contact us in the image). Please SHARE.

12/08/2024

*****It’s DUCKLING season!*****

Please keep an eye out for 🦆 families in need of assistance. Some little things you can do to help ducks:

1. Allow ducks to cross the road safely by slowing down or safely stopping your vehicles as they approach. Motor vehicle collisions are one of the leading causes of duckling and duck death in Perth.

2. Keep cats contained or inside so they aren't out predating ducklings. Cats are a major cause of duckling death in Perth.

3. If you find orphaned ducklings, collect them quickly, contain them in a box or towel and take them directly to your closest wildlife centre.

4. DO NOT ALLOW ORPHANED DUCKLINGS TO GET WET! This is extremely important because orphaned ducklings chill and die if they get wet. Instead, keep them warm and dry until you can get them to a wildlife centre.

5. If you live somewhere near a road where ducks and ducklings cross, please contact your shire about erecting ducklings crossing signs to warn motorists. Now is the time to do this.

6. Place mesh over drains to prevent ducklings falling in, or if they are public area / road drains where you've seen ducklings fall in previously, contact your local shire about installing duckling safe drains. Now is the time to do this!

7. Keep dogs on leashes if you are walking around wetlands, natural areas and parks. Dogs are a major cause of duck and duckling deaths in Perth.

8. If you see ducks nesting in trees or palms above, consider placing a sign below to warn others that ducklings are expected and to keep children and pets away from the area.

9. In the case of Black Swans, report any black swans nests to the local shire so they can implement protection to keep dogs, people and cats away from the nests.

10. Keep wetlands healthy and free form roaming cats, dogs and foxes! Report any roaming cats, dogs or foxes to local authorities.

11. Immediately transport orphaned or injured ducklings to licensed rehabilitation centres. It is unlawful to keep native wildlife, including ducklings. And native ducklings have a much better chance of rehab and release if handed into wildlife centres who rehab waterfowl.

12. If you find ducklings in your pool and their parent/s are around, make your pool duckling safe by installing a duckling ramp. Some shade cloth nailed onto a plank of wood and placed at the edge of the pool may be sufficient. Also place a grate on the pool filter intake to prevent ducklings getting sucked into the filter.

Thank you to Darling Range Wildlife Shelter WA for the text of this post (reproduced with permission) They said it so well we decided to just ask to copy it.

******If you find a duck family in trouble or find orphaned ducks, please give us a call on (08) 6102 8464 or call the Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055.******

Please SHARE!


Photo credit to L-A Shibish

11/08/2024

Much appreciation to Bunnings Esperance who kindly donated a BBQ for us to raffle off for raising funds for remote seabird rescue activities! The generosity of the community keeps us going 💪 THANK YOU! ⭐️

10/08/2024

Saturday morning success! ☀️

We had a lovely excursion this morning to Burswood Park with some of our new volunteers. It’s a known hot spot location for fishing line entanglements - and as expected, we were able to catch this poor silver gull with braided fishing line tightly wrapped around its leg. Please pick up stray line along our riverbanks and shores. It’s a massive problem for our seagulls, and it’s rather sad that we are almost guaranteed to catch a suffering bird at certain locations!

09/08/2024

We receive some odd rescue requests and this is one of them! As some workers were closing up shop for the day, they noticed blood dripping from the roof right by their front door. They looked up and noticed a shelduck had wedged and trapped itself between their business sign and roof!

Just like a dog’s quick, this shelduck had damaged its claws trying to free itself - hence the bloody scene.

After some R&R at WA Wildlife, this shelduck was released a week later ❤️

🎥 Video of its release in the comments

28/07/2024

Mandurah volunteers Jo and Danny were searching for a swan with fishing line around the beak when they came across this pelican with fishing line hanging from the wing.

Danny executed an excellent rescue and, happily, the fishing line was just around feathers. The pelican was relieved of the entanglement and released.

So…the swan with fishing line around their beak still needs rescuing. Please SHARE this post to all our Mandurah friends and groups so we can rescue the swan!

26/07/2024

Everyone, meet Maud 👋

She is an outstanding volunteer at WASR and is always patient and kind. Not only does she answer out hotline most days of the week, she also goes out on the occasional rescue! Love reacts for our hard-working hero! ❤️

Call our hotline on (08) 6102 8464 to report sick and injured birds. You might be so lucky to speak with Maud!

23/07/2024

🥰🦆OLIVER REUNITED AT LAST WITH YEARNING MRS WOOD🦆🥰
Oliver the wood duck was so dark and thin from smothered feathers WASR rescuer, Jo, thought he was a charred log at first 🪵
Weighed down with toxic oil, he was weakened, cold and water logged. Oliver was taken to WA Wildlife where he could be expertly cleaned and hopefully rehabbed.
Meantime Pam the person who called him in, said Mrs Wood 🦆 was sitting on the fence day after day, calling for her mate. 😢
Three weeks in care, Tracy was able to bring Oliver back from WA Wildlife and release again, where he soon met up with Mrs Wood 🦆 who was reportedly quacking a lot of questions.
Western Australian Seabird Resue and WA Wildlife depend upon community funding to respond to incidents such as these. Please consider supporting us. https://wasr.org.au/donate/

19/07/2024

Trapped and tangled! Fishing line woes.

In the past three days we have rescued:
✅ A magpie with fishing line wrapped around its legs
✅ A silver gull with a swallowed hook and line coming from its mouth
✅ A pelican with many holes in its bill pouch and a suspicious two-point puncture wound on its inflamed leg that we suspect was caused by a fishing hook

😞😟😞

Please save our number to your phone and call us if you spot an entangled bird. 📞 6102 8464.

Recfishwest City of Fremantle

18/07/2024

We all love a happy release video! After almost two weeks in care at WA Wildlife our Garvey Park duck with the large fish hook in her mouth made a complete recovery and was released back home, just opposite to Ron Courtney Island.

Thanks to Michelle, Christy and Lea who separately on different days spotted the duck and called the rescue in to us!

City of Belmont, WA
Listen to her happy quacking!