Osprey injured by drone causes concern from wildlife carer

An osprey in Shark Bay is slowly recovering from an incident involving a drone, but wildlife carers fear she will never be able to return to the wild.

The osprey matriarch, known as “Pearl”, was known to the coastal town of Denham, where she had a nest atop a phone tower.

Pearl was found injured by locals in November last year. Her injuries were consistent with a drone strike.

Pearl was treated by a veterinarian and released into the care of Janelle Ende. Ende is a registered wildlife carer of 30 years and runs Just Raptors, a volunteer centre for wounded birds of prey.

“I knew straight away that’s what had happened to her,” said Ende.

Ende reports having to handfeed Pearl due to the osprey’s mobility being impacted by her injuries.

Pearl was later diagnosed with scarring on her left air sac, a space within an organism that constantly contains air. Birds can have up to 11 air sacs surrounding their lungs that aid with their respiration and flight ability.

The damage to one of Pearl’s air sacs has affected her breathing and ability to adjust mid-flight. Ende reports that while Pearl was eventually able to spread her wings again, she cannot sustain her flight.

“She comes down and she’s very much out of puff.”

Pearl’s inability to return to the wild also affects her mate. Ospreys are known to mate for life, with Pearl’s partner reported to still be at the phone tower.

“The reports are that he’s still quite by himself,” said Ende.

However, Pearl’s rehabilitation was not without its positive impacts as Pearl became a surrogate mother for an orphaned osprey chick named “Alana”.

Pearl’s care for the adopted chick has been found to be beneficial as it allows Alana to develop skills that will allow her to survive independently in the wild.

When asked about the bird, Ende stated, “Alana can now recognise that she is an osprey.”

“It will be an okay ending, for Alana especially, because she’ll be able to go out and she’ll be able to be released.”

Both birds will soon be relocated to continue their recovery at a bird sanctuary, before Alana is released back into the wild.

Ende hopes that Pearl will eventually recover enough that she can survive without human assistance and can return to Shark Bay.

“She needs to be in Shark Bay with her mate, not in an aviary or captivity. But, sadly, drones do a lot of damage.”