Scientists working on studying birds cleaned and released at the BP Gulf Oil Spill have a special request for birders and the general public: Please report sightings of these specially banded birds. Birds from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster are banded with metal federal leg bands with a unique ID number. In addition, brown … Read more
A new federal bird report on the damage caused by a 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill says the endangered Snowy Plover survived the spill in good numbers, but other species weren’t so lucky. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report says at least 6,700 ducks, loons, cormorants, gulls, pelicans and other birds were probably … Read more
Almost 60,000 birds have been struck by commercial and private aircraft in North America a new FAA report revealed this week. The most common strike involved Mourning Doves: Pilots reported hitting 2,291 of the dove species between 2000 and 2008. In eight years the other avian strikes included gulls (2,186), European starlings (1,427) and American … Read more
The newest State of Birds report is out this month and there’s both concern and hope. We’re focusing on the The State of Ocean Birds, but the full report covers all areas: lakes, grassland, forest, etc. From the report: Of 81 ocean bird species, almost half are of conservation concern, including 4 that are federally … Read more
With the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill upon us, a spate of news stories and opinion pieces will surely follow. However, one piece of information worthy of reading is a report that says oil from the spill in some places is “nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after … Read more
A New York Times story about the pelican crisis is quoting a state wildlife veterinarian that says the birds were brutalized by Mother Nature’s cold fury. “Pelicans were observed in the middle of that storm and then seen moving south,” said David A. Jessup, senior wildlife veterinarian for the California Department of Fish and Game. … Read more
A very good update from the leader of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) on the upcoming anniversary of the Cosco Busan oil spill: “Wildlife Experts Reflect on Anniversary of Big SF Bay Oil Spill” One year after leading the second-largest rescue and rehabilitation of oiled seabirds in recent California history, UC Davis wildlife health … Read more
Another group of young pelicans were released back into the wild by IBRRC volunteers this weekend at Fort Baker near the Golden Gate Bridge. Most if not all of these brown pelicans had been rescued from collision of birds and anglers off the Santa Cruz County coastline in August. A lot of the pelicans came … Read more
Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director, who is in Argentina, sent this update from Patagonia oil spill response this evening: We established today as a big major penguin washing day so that we can wrap this spill up. With water issues and other problems we have only been able to wash a total of 25 or … Read more
What are the long term affects to marine environments after oil spills? Scientists from Spain hope that the blood of Yellow-legged gulls will give them a better picture. Researchers measured the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) levels in the gulls exposed to oil during the aftermath of the 2002 Prestige oil spill off the coast of … Read more