The Oil Spills Affect on Birds

It has been 5 months since the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and finally the government is releasing weekly information of birds affected by this disaster. The weekly reports will be a species by species breakdown of which bird species were found dead or alive, if they were oiled or not, and if they survived. "According to the most recent report available, a total of 3,634 dead birds and 1,042 live birds have been found in areas affected by the spill, and about 1.5% of those collected live later died. The numbers are likely higher, closer to 7,000 total, these are the confirmed data, and the verification process can take weeks" (Audubon, 2010).

Laughing gulls have been affected the most, with 1,591 found dead and 294 rescued alive. The Brown Pelican, which just recently was taken off the endangered species list was the second most affected species with 376 dead, 192 alive. Here is a link to the PDF file showing the species by species breakdown.

Brown Pelicans moving north along the South Carolina Coast, photo taken in March 2010.