Stanley Park's stray rooster struts to fame in bird boots

'He just showed up one day' and high-stepped his way into the park staffs' hearts'

By Yvette Brend, CBC News Posted: Oct 07, 2016 6:00 AM PT Last Updated: Oct 07, 2016 10:04 AM PT 

Ricky the rooster in Stanley Park by Jennifer Summers

Ricky the mysterious rooster just showed up one day in Vancouver's Stanley Park.

Since then he's strutted his way into park staff's hearts.

He hangs out near the horse barn, and members of the Vancouver Police mounted unit are familiar with his high-stepping antics.

Recently, he was outfitted by park staff with some handmade Birdy Booties — to help relieve his pain from a condition called bumblefoot, an inflammatory condition and perhaps a little arthritis, say his caretakers who were relieved the beloved bird did not have cancer.

"He loves his booties ... I think I'm anthropomorphizing a bit but when he first got them he ran around the yard. I think he was trying to show them off." said Sheena Urquhart, an apprentice horticulturalist.

When Ricky is in the mood he will hop up on a bench and march across laps.

"He's a total lap rooster," said Urquhart.

Ricky is not the first rooster abandoned at the park over the years.

But he's the first with his own Instagram account (@Ricky_the_Chicky) and a lot of ardent fans.

Continued 

Pollution, oil spills threaten Stanley Park birds

Conservation group says several species have declined over last decade.

Chronic industrial pollution and small spills from oil tankers moving through Burrard Inlet are contributing to declining numbers of birds in Stanley Park, according to the conservation program manager for the Stanley Park Ecology Society.

Robyn Worcester said in the past decade conservation group Bird Studies Canada has found a decline in the number of loons and grebes that rely on small fish in the intertidal areas for their food. Birds also feed on the Pacific blue mussels and barnacles that live close to shore.

Worcester said minor oil spills aren’t the only cause of the declines, but they do play a role along with other factors, such as climate change and fluctuating ocean temperatures.

“We’re seeing declines of these birds,” she said. “Maybe there is stress on their food supply, which is the small fish. Instead of increasing the amount of pollution, I think we have to focus on making things better.”

Worcester is one of three panelists at a discussion Monday on the effects of oil spills on Stanley Park.

The ecology society is holding the discussion to raise the public profile of environmental issues in Stanley Park related to Kinder Morgan’s proposal to expand its pipeline from Alberta to the Westridge Terminal in Burnaby. The energy company wants to more than double its capacity from 300,000 barrels a day to 750,000. The number of tankers going through Burrard Inlet, the company says, would increase from 96 a year to as many as 300.

Many bird species, including great blue herons, that populated Stanley Park are threatened by industrial pollution and small oil spills affecting Burrard Inlet, according the Stanley Park Ecology Society.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pollution+spills+threaten+Stanley+Park+birds/7424078/story.html#ixzz2A2SLNA00