Lost seabird miraculously finds itself a long way from home, Mid West farmer discovers albatross in paddock

A Mid West farmer received the surprise of his life when he found a big seabird looking lost in his paddock, 80km from the ocean.

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross, identified by local wildlife rescuer and carer Michelle Jones, was taken to a local vet clinic by the farmer.

Ms Jones said once the albatross was checked over at a vet clinic, she was called in to pick up the animal and take care of it.

She said she had no idea of the whereabouts in the Mid West the bird was found, and only knew the farm was about 80km from the ocean.

“This was a juvenile Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross which are often found off the coast of Western Australia and are a migratory, endangered bird,” she said.

“This little one weighed in just under 2kg and was such a beautiful bird. Once I got it into my care and hydrated it, it was quite perky and preened itself which is always a really good sign.”

This particular species of albatross is usually found from the coast of WA to islands off the Antarctica.

Ms Jones said when caring for seabirds it was important to keep an eye on them as they could come down with “capture myopathy” — a disease which caused animals to shut down and potentially die from the stress of being in a captive environment.

When rescuing seabirds, Ms Jones said the usual procedure was to survey and identify them, before getting them onto a boat and releasing them back into the wild.

However, as this albatross was identified to be a juvenile Ms Jones said she discovered another juvenile albatross to be in care in Perth, so she reached out to the local community to “hitch the bird a ride”.

The albatross was taken to Perth by “a legend called Neil” who was said to have put the bird in the back of his brand new car.

Ms Jones said she couldn’t take the bird to Perth herself as she had 15 other animals in her care full-time, as well as 20 joeys she feeds by hand.

“I’m really fortunate to work in an environment where I have some rescues where animals come into my care, they’re bright, saveable and viable for release,” she said.

“Especially with this bird being such an endangered animal, this was a beautiful moment for the week and something I’ll often think about.”

Now united with another albatross, the two birds will be released back into the wild — hopefully to never find themselves back on a Mid West farm.