Giving the Bird

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More About

• Key Biscayne
• Birds
• Aquatic Birds

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The great irony is that pelicans secrete a little oil to waterproof their plumage. But the recent tarring of their feathers by BP’s oil spill will be one of the great tragedies of the decade. No longer able to regulate their temperatures, the birds could freeze to death, and every time they preen themselves, they risk poisoning. Their only hope is being sent to bayou rehabs where they are delicately scrubbed with toothbrushes. After the freaked-out birds are dipped, dunked, and cleansed, they’re treated like retirees and sent to Florida’s east coast.

Join the Crandon Park Bayside Birding Kayak Adventure this Sunday so you can paddle up to some such birds and explain why your Hummer purchase was worth their relatives’ lives. (It drives like a tank!) Led by an avian guru who has worked at the Miami Science Museum’s bird rehabilitation center, the excursion makes its way along Key Biscayne’s ibis preserves and brown pelican nests.
Sun., July 4, 1:30 p.m., 2010