(North Kingstown, RI) -- Bert the pelican, the bird infamously trapped in Rhode Island due to the most recent federal government shutdown, is finally flying south. The Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island was able to relocate the brown pelican via an airplane on Sunday to Ocean City, Maryland and then to coastal North Carolina. Officials say Bert may have been blown off-course before he was discovered in Narragansett last month. The clinic couldn't transport him until the shutdown ended and they could obtain permits.