EASTHAM, Mass. (AP) - A tropical bird never before seen in Massachusetts has been rescued from a Cape Cod beach after it was likely blown off course by Hurricane Jose.
Wild Care, a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Eastham, says the masked booby was found Tuesday at a Wellfleet beach.
Wild Care Executive Director Stephanie Ellis tells the Cape Cod Times (https://bit.ly/2xAINDN ) the bird was thin, weak and experiencing respiratory discomfort likely due to a fungal infection.
Massachusetts Audubon science coordinator Mark Faherty says a masked booby has never before been reported on the state’s soil. He says a charter captain reported seeing one about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Nantucket in 2015.
The seabirds are more common in the Gulf of Mexico.
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