SOUTH PASADENA, Fla. — Robin Perlman says people immediately took notice when the usually all-white protected egrets started showing up in their neighborhood spotted with paint.
“One bird had blue paint, another bird had red and yellow paint,” she said. “So there’s more than one.”
Perlman’s friend, who lives in the South Pasadena neighborhood, sent her a shot of an egret right outside of her home, covered in what is suspected to be paint from a paintball gun. Perlman immediately shared it on social media where others were already talking about another paint-soaked egret sighting from just days earlier.
“It’s either a very sick adult or an ignorant child or a group, I don’t know,” she said.
The pictures have reached officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission who are now investigating and encouraging anyone with additional information to report it.
“It boggles the mind,” said Kim Begay, a professional bird rescuer who volunteers with Birds in Helping Hands. “The first thing I thought was why in the world would anybody want to shoot a bird with a paintball?”
Begay says a paintball shot, like the ones suspected of striking these birds, can be deadly.
“Even though they’re large, they’re fragile,” she said. “Their neck is very fragile so that could cause a serious injury, it could even break their neck.”
Unfortunately, Begay said, it’s not the first instance of protected birds showing up covered in paint.
Last summer, a white ibis painted blue showed up on Indian Rocks Beach. Before that, a white ibis was found spray painted orange. The dye seeped so deep it kept the bird from flying.
“Hopefully we’ll catch the person or people who are doing this,” Perlman said.
Egrets, herons and other wading birds are protected under both the state and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act laws.
Anyone with additional information to report it to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.
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