Nine longtails that survived Hurricane Ernesto were released into the wild after recovering at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.

The facility took in 25 birds, including 15 longtails, gulls, herons and doves, after the storm swept over Bermuda in August.

Patrick Talbot, a curator at BAMZ, said that nine longtails had survived from the rescued flock.

Some were saved after they were washed out of their nests.

He said: “The majority of the directly impacted victims had suffered major trauma like a wing or leg break and either didn't survive the night or had to be humanely euthanised to prevent suffering.”

Others birds sustained injury or lost their parents and were taken to the aquarium.

Mr Talbot said ten of the 15 longtails given care at BAMZ were juveniles. Unfortunately, six did not survive and the remainder were released in phases in recent weeks.

The last bird was set free during the final week of September.

Many of the longtails were taken to BAMZ in critical condition within a two-week period after Ernesto passed.

Mr Talbot explained: “They were most likely washed out of their nests and became stranded or voluntarily left their nest due to the loss of their parents.

“We were able to determine this by measurements taken of wing development compared to mass or weight.”

He said the longtails were 50 per cent or lower in weight than what they should have been.

He explained: “They can lose ten to 15 grams per day, allowing us to backtrack when they were last fed, which was found to be around Ernesto's passing.”

To give context, he said: “Imagine a healthy 180 pound human being starved down to 80 or 90 pounds — such a loss is significant.”

Mr Talbot said the bird’s recovery from such a state could be difficult.

He said: “The care is delicate and onerous and the time is protracted.

“The birds cannot be fed right away so as not to shock their systems, which have been deprived of food for a long period of time.”

He said the process started with the administration of fluids followed by tube-feeding with special formulas.

Small food items came next, leading to more bulky food such as squid.

Each bird can take as much as 15 minutes of care per session.

At one point, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was caring for 11 birds at once, with staff spending entire mornings with the cases.

Mr Talbot said that although Ernesto was “a large, slow-moving storm”, the winds were not high enough to produce significant coastal damage and so many longtail nests survived.

He added: “Surf and winds started to pick up in the afternoon on the Friday, which could have affected adult birds returning to feed.

“Many low-lying nests would have been washed out through wave action. However, we don't know how much the longtail population was affected.”

When the hurricane struck, he was performing routine monitoring of three chicks in nests, which sadly did not survive the storm.

Mr Talbot said Ernesto's passage brought in a variety of unusual avian visitors spotted around the island.

He added: “We still have the possibility of more storms before the end of October.

“Please contact the aquarium at 293-2727 if you find an animal injured or in distress.

“Do not try to care for it yourself unless you have the training and permitting to do so, as most of these animals are protected by law.”