Hurricane Beryl: Austin Wildlife Rescue takes in over 70 birds from Houston

Austin Wildlife Rescue takes in birds

Austin Wildlife Rescue welcomed 76 birds from Houston following Hurricane Beryl.

ELGIN, Texas - Austin Wildlife Rescue welcomed 76 birds from Houston following Hurricane Beryl.

Austin Wildlife Rescue in Elgin said staff already have their hands full, with around 17,000 animals currently in its care.

"Our mission here at Austin Wildlife Rescue is to take in orphaned, injured, or sick native Texas wildlife and then rehabilitate them and get them back out into the wild," said Jules Maron, Executive Director for Austin Wildlife Rescue.

According to Maron, the facility is usually at peak capacity during the summer months.

However, Maron says they recently had to make an exception when they heard about the devastating impact Hurricane Beryl had on Houston’s coastal birds’ nesting sites. The storm resulted in the birds dying or being severely injured and needing help.

"They were completely obliterated. Houston alone has found over 1,000 Egrets that have been displaced and, you know, unfortunately have passed on as well," she said.

The Austin Wildlife Rescue welcomed 76 of these birds who survived the hurricane: 30 Mississippi Kites, 30 Cattle Egrets, and 16 Yellow Crowned Night Herons.

"We have a couple of broken legs, broken feet, so when they came in, we were immediately doing triage last night, getting them fluids, getting x-rays and getting them splinted up.

Hurricane Beryl: Houston storm recovery

As state officials accused President Biden of trying to turn the crisis into a political issue, the top executives from several power providers were in Austin for a special storm response hearing before the Public Utility Commission.

Right now, Austin Wildlife Rescue is focused on settling these birds into their new environment.

"They've been through a lot, right? They've been through a hurricane. They've been through a long transportation drive, and now they're in a new place, but they're definitely getting settled in. They seem much calmer. They're walking around, they're starting to have a little bit of an attitude sometimes, which we really love to see from our herons. We know we have a healthy heron when we have kind of a cranky heron," said Maron.

How long each breed of bird will be in care will depend. Most will stay through August, but the Mississippi Kites will require longer care.

Maron says the organization is calling on donations to feed these animals and keep up with their care because their diets are expensive. They took to social media for help and have already raised over $35,000 dollars in donations.