A tropical bird rarely seen in the cool climate of the Pacific Northwest is recovering after it was found injured on Vancouver Island.
A female brown booby about two years old was found with a puncture wound in its chest at Ogden Point on Monday.
The tropical birds are typically found in California, Mexico and Hawaii and it's rare for them to be spotted here, according to BC SPCA's Wild Animal Rehabilitation centre in Metchosin, which is now caring for the injured animal.
The bird was about 30 per cent underweight and was given fluids to stabilize it. It now remains in care at Wild ARC.
It's the first time the organization has cared for a brown booby.
Staff say they're not sure when the bird will be well enough for them to be able to release it back into the wild.
The brown booby is known for making massive dives for fish from up to 15 metres.
Wild ARC says in the past year, it has cared for 2,207 injured and orphaned birds.
