Zoo Needs Help Transporting Rare Seabird That Landed In El Paso During Winter Storm

A rare seabird that was displaced by the winter storm landed in El Paso, and now it needs a ride back to the coast.

The El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens are currently rehabilitating a Magnificent Frigatebird that was lost and needed support.

A lone and rare seabird has made an incredible voyage due to the historic arctic freeze that swept through the country's central and southern parts, including Texas, bringing dangerously low temperatures not seen in decades and triggering a winter storm warning.

According to the El Paso Zoo, a Good Samaritan found the seabird on Monday and took it straight to the zoo where the veterinary team “were able to do a thorough exam and radiographs on the female Frigatebird under anesthesia, and confirmed that she had no broken bones or injuries but was exhausted and very hungry.”

Thanks to that anonymous El Pasoan, the rare seabird is now receiving care and plenty of fish and remains at the El Paso Zoo until she has recovered from her desert journey, and transportation can be arranged for her.

The El Paso Zoo is searching for a partner to help transport the bird back to the coast to get her to a Florida Keys rehabilitation center.

It turns out the rare seabird is a Magnificent Frigatebird normally found on the tropical waters of the Gulf, Atlantic, or Pacific coasts but can get caught up in large storms causing the native species to end up in odd locations such as El Paso, TX.

Magnificent Frigatebirds are also known as a man o’ war soaring seabird named after a type of fast warship. The birds are notorious for chasing and harassing other seabirds until they drop their catch and steal it out of the air. Using their 7-foot wingspan, these seabirds usually soar on the ocean breezes for hours, barely needing to flap their wings.

Any entity who would like to partner up with the El Paso Zoo to provide transportation for the displaced Magnificent Frigatebird back to its habitat in the Florida Keys can contact the zoo.