Young herons and egrets were set free along Oakland’s shoreline last week after rescuers nurtured the birds that had fallen from nests onto unforgiving streets.

The five juvenile snowy egrets and three young night herons released at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreational Shoreline followed the flight paths of dozens of similarly rescued and released birds this breeding season.

The black-crowned night herons “are particularly aggressive in the nest. Siblings will fight and one will fall out,” said J.D. Bergeron, International Bird Rescue executive director.

“Birds don’t seem to care that there’s concrete below,” he said.

International Bird Rescue of Fairfield was one of three organizations that combined forces to aid the birds.

International Bird Rescue teams nursed them into healthy adolescence after Golden Gate Audubon Society docents alerted Oakland Zoo veterinarians about six weeks ago that the birds had fallen from their nests and needed some careful attention.

The Aug. 18 release followed a larger one in July, where dozens of birds were set free, most of them born in downtown Oakland.

The latest batch came from farther afield. Santa Rosa has a particularly big clutch of rookeries, but birds are also rescued from Sacramento and all over the greater Bay Area.

“It’s been a really big effort by these different organizations,” said Cindy Margulis of the Audubon Society. “Previously, we didn’t have a good way to rescue these birds,” but “this year, we were able to get a docent program together.”

Docents monitor the nests and when they see that a bird is in trouble, contact the zoo via a private hot line. The zoo dispatches trained animal handlers, who arrive within the hour.

Margulis said the zoo’s “world-class vets” stabilize them and then arrange for them to go to the International Bird Rescue response center in Fairfield. International Bird Rescue cared for the young birds until they could fend for themselves.

During their 4 to 8 weeks of recuperation at the rescue center, the birds were fed multivitamins and live fish “so they learn they should be hunting. They all seem pretty good with it,” said International Bird Rescue intern Jackie Annis.

“We knew the birds would get care if we could just get them there,” Margulis said. Otherwise, “the birds end up in really difficult situations really quickly,” unable in the urban setting to land safely in nearby brush and clamber back to their nests.

“A lot of the little ones don’t make it,” Margulis said. “The fall’s too far, and the concrete’s too hard,” she said.

Oakland is a prime breeding spot for the herons, even though they are found worldwide, she said. The birds are classified as migratory, but do not travel far. They gravitate to creeks, wetlands and coastal ecosystems, Bergeron said.

“They really like Lake Merritt,” said Audubon Society spokeswoman Ilana DeBare. In downtown Oakland, the organization counted 149 nesting pairs this year.

“Oakland is an important city,” Bergeron agreed, with “historically, a huge number of birds.”

The city has a history of respecting their presence, he added, citing the 1870 designation of Lake Merritt as “the first state-funded wildlife refuge in the country … a pioneering environmental step.”

Most of the fallen chicks were picked up around the Clay Street post office and the Alameda County courthouse on Fallon Street, not ideal nest locations.

“Encouraging them to leave their rookeries is one of the big challenges we face,” Bergeron said. “Once a rookery is established, they’re reluctant to relocate.”

With the new levels of care they are getting, it may stay that way. Friday morning as the teams dispersed, the birds explored the marsh and fished.

“He got something!” Audubon’s Marissa Ortega-Welch said as the long-legged egrets waded in a shallow pond.

Contact Mark Hedin at 510-293-2452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.