Oldest Known Banded King Eider Found 23 Years After Oil Spill Care

A new bird banding report shows something truly remarkable: the oldest known banded King Eider – a species of sea duck – was a 24-year-old oil spill survivor cared for by International Bird Rescue. This finding proves once again that rehabilitated, formerly-oiled birds can survive many years after treatment and release back to the wild. … Read more

AP video: Cleaning Oiled Pelican in Louisiana

Response Team members, including IBRRC’s Heather Nevill, clean an oiled Brown Pelican Saturday at Fort Jackson, Louisiana Oiled Wildlife Center after being rescued at the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (baackground in video) visited the center over the weekend to see first hand how one of … Read more

Day 6: Pelican washed; Response team grows

On the sixth day of the Gulf Oil Spill response, additional International Bird Rescue response team members has been activated, a brown pelican was successfully washed and we continue to assist Tri-State Bird Rescue in the set up of three more wildlife care centers. Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director, is writing a daily update from … Read more

Day 5: Weather still hampering search for oiled birds

It’s the fifth day of Gulf oil spill response and International Bird Rescue is working quickly with Tri-State Bird Rescue, to staff and set up and wildlife care centers in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. IBRRC’s Executive Director, Jay Holcomb, is writing daily updates from the epicenter of the wildlife rescue. Here’s his day five oil … Read more

New wildlife rescue training classes offered

IBRRC is pleased to offer a handful of new day-long wildlife rescue classes, designed by WildRescue’s Rebecca Dmytryk. The first will be offered at IBRRC’s Fairfield, CA bird center on Sunday, December 7, 2008. Others are scheduled for Berkeley, Oakland and Fremont in January and February 2009. Classes in Southern California will also be scheduled … Read more

Rockhopper penguin: Before and after oiling

During the recent Syros oil spill in Argentina, we received these adorable photos of Rockhopper Penguins. On the left is a clean penguin and on the right is the Rockhopper waiting patiently for its cleaning bath (below). Local rehabilitation teams organized by the joint efforts of IBRRC and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) … Read more

NTSB: Pilot’s personal issues affected judgement

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing looking into the Cosco Busan oil spill, shed more light on the personal problems of the pilot captain that may have contributed to the disaster on San Francisco Bay. The NTSB revealed that Capt. John Cota is an alcoholic who also was using prescription drugs during work hours … Read more