An anhinga seabird recently showed up in the parking lot at Compass Media in George Town with a hair weave wrapped around its beak and feet.
Compass staff were able to catch the bird, remove the hair weave and release it back into the wild.
“At first we thought it was fishing line,” said James Groves, who rescued the bird.
“It was very fine and really wrapped around the beak. It was difficult to get off and when we finally got it off and looked at it closely, it turned out to be hair weave.”
The anhinga is a water bird that swims underwater by kicking its webbed feet and hunts by spearing fish with its sharp, slender beak.
This is not the only bird in Cayman that has recently become ensnared in hair weave. Cayman resident Lucy Ann Brewer recalled that last year there was a pigeon that turned up on the patio of a restaurant in George Town with a hair weave wrapped around its feet.
The pigeon became a fixture at the restaurant for several weeks and the regulars called it ‘Tim’ after the manager of the restaurant.
One of the restaurant staff members caught the pigeon and took it to the Department of the Environment, where they were able to remove the hair weave. Despite losing two toes in the process, the bird survived.
It turned out that ‘Tim’ the pigeon was, in fact, a female bird and, based on the identifying rings on its ankles, rescuers discovered it was a racing pigeon from Cuba.
After several weeks enjoying the company and French fries at Rackam’s restaurant in George Town, the pigeon took off.
Litter, including abandoned plastics and fishing line, pose a survival threat to marine species, including birds and sea turtles. In 2021, for example, two frigate birds were found entangled in fishing line in Snug Harbour. One bird survived and the other did not.
At the time, the Department of Environment explained that seabirds may inadvertently become trapped by fishing line while hunting.
“Seabird bycatch can happen when birds are unaware that their intended prey is on a fishing line,” the department had posted on social media. “They become entangled or hooked on the line and then either drown on the line or become grounded by the fishing gear and starve to death.”
Anyone who finds a bird in distress should call the DoE on 949-8469.
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