Weekend Birdery: Oil and Birds Don’t Mix Either
Click to enlarge image.
The Gulf oil spill is obviously bad news for birds. In addition to ocean-going waterfowl types in the area year-round, all sorts of birds migrate across the Gulf from Mexico in the spring and early summer. When they reach the Gulf shores, they are tired, stressed, hungry, and vulnerable. Disruption of food supply and degradation of island-shore nesting areas are serious concerns.
Getting covered in oil is no good either. Even a small dab is harmful and can be fatal. Petroleum can prevent feather barbs from hooking together (feathers are often described as working like velcro) to make the airtight and watertight seal necessary for regulating body temperature, flying, swimming, diving, and so on. Ingesting or breathing contaminants is no better for birds than for humans.
A few birds have been rescued so far off the coast of Louisiana: a northern gannet, a brown pelican, and at least one other, I gather. 
Rescued birds are fed and then, after building up strength for as much as 5 days, are washed with Dawn dish soap (which is apparently the most effective, suitable, and readily available cleaning agent for the purpose, according to the International Bird Rescue Research Center). Survival chances vary unpredictably, but 50%-80% of birds rescued by the IBRRC can be released, after an average of 7 days recovering in captivity.
But it’s really most important to address the longer-term habitat and food supply disruptions, if we want to avoid calamity for bird populations. It’s difficult to gauge how bad it will be. But it’s not too difficult to predict this: it will not be good.
Comments
Leave a Reply
About Me
- I write this blog.
-
My twitter feed:
