Tropical bird found by children in playground in northwest Melbourne

A seabird native to the Galapagos Islands and far north Queensland has made it all the way to — believe it or not — Pascoe Vale.

Bobby, the tropical bird found by kids in a tree at Pascoe Vale South Primary School, is now in the care of zoo vets.

It’s not every day that a bird from the Galápagos Islands is found roaming Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Kids attending a school holiday program on Monday found the striking bird, memorably known as a red-footed booby, on Pascoe Vale South Primary School’s basketball courts.

Moreland Holiday Program co-ordinator Carolyn Harrison said a child came running inside to tell her there was an injured bird outside.

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“It had an injured wing; magpies had been swooping it. The kids thought it was a pelican and they named it Bobby,” she said.

Ms Harrison managed to put the bird in a box and a parent took it to Petstock vet hospital in Essendon.

She said it was about the size of a chicken but with wings like an albatross, and red feet.

Petstock veterinarian Yuwern Yap assessed the bird before passing him on to Melbourne Zoo.

“There were no obvious external injuries,” he said.

Melbourne Zoo veterinarian Bonnie McMeekin said on closer inspection the bird was found to be in “very poor health”, and was receiving intensive care from zoo vet team.

“The team will continue to monitor the bird’s progress over the coming days,” Ms McMeekin said.

“It is very rare to see a bird of this kind in Victoria; it is more likely to be found on tropical water with a worldwide distribution, and in Australia may be found on islands off the Northern Queensland and Northern West Australian coastlines.

“The species has been reported occasionally as far south as northern New South Wales.”

According to eBird — an online database of bird sightings — the red-footed booby has only been sighted once before in Victoria, in February 2013 near Tamboon, East Gippsland.

Birdlife Melbourne president Alan Crawford said the bird being found in Melbourne was “pretty interesting”.

He said it was likely bird was blown into Victoria by strong winds over the weekend.

“It’s a seabird that’s usually out in the Pacific, sometimes in North Queensland. There’s been some seen in New South Wales recently,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be in land, when they land [on land] they can’t take off as easily. They have long wings so they usually jump off a cliff to take off.”

Mr Crawford said it would be ideal if the bird was released in Queensland after it was treated so it could easily get back on course.

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