Bird Cams Around the World

I have received several messages from members, asking about the oil spill in the Gulf. Yes, our team is there, and you can read about what is going on in this article:


IBRRC Veterinarian with oiled juvenile Northern Gannet


Jay Holcomb, Executive Director of IBRRC

Rescuing Birds on the Louisiana Shore

In the first picture, the bird has been stabilized and is being rehydrated by gavage. A long flexible tube is inserted into the bird's esophagus directly into his stomach. The fluid is warmed first.

In the second picture, the bird is being washed. Before being washed, the bird is stabilized and has had a satisfactory blood test. The washing process if very stressful, and a bird in a weakened condition would not survive the bath.

There is up-to-date information on the IBRRC Blog, which you can read here:

http://www.ibrrc.org/

Washing stations in Fort Jackson rescue center

Trained oil spill rescue teams from all over the US are on call. Although only one oiled bird has been picked up so far, they're not waiting around. They are getting ready for a large scale disaster.

Jay Holcomb, Executive Director of IBRRC, is posting updates about the Gulf oil spill on the IBRRC Blog. You can read the updates there or here.


click

Day three:

Today the high winds and thunderstorms prevented attempts for clean-up or oiled bird capture. In the meantime, the IBRRC team is continuing to work with Tri-State Bird Rescue, the lead wildlife organization on the ground, to prepare the centers in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.

We continue to care for the one bird recovered so far: a Northern Gannet. It was washed yesterday and is in stable condition.

We have also now activated more of our response team to augment the centers and support search and collection efforts. They will be arriving on Monday, May 3rd.

We know that there has been an outpouring of concern from people all over the country wishing to help. IBRRC is not in the position to coordinate volunteers or other trained people. We can only reiterate that the best thing you can to do for now is to call the volunteer hotline that has been set-up by BP: 1-866-448-5816.

From IBRRC’s Blog



The first oiled bird brought in for treatment at the Gulf Oil Spill, a juvenile Northern Gannet, is now recuperating in stable condition. The Gannet spends its time in the pool improving its water-proofing at the Fort Jackson, Louisiana wildlife rescue center. The second picture is of the first oiled Brown Pelican.



Day five

Hello everyone. I have been in Venice Louisiana for five days and finally have email access. I wanted to write a brief note to all the people who have wished us well, supported IBRRC and are watching the news as the spill in the gulf of Mexico progresses.

The weather has really hampered attempts to initiate a search and collection effort for oiled birds. As soon as the storm subsides and the safety officers decide that it is safe to go out looking for oiled birds then we will commence with that program.

IBRRC and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Inc. are not in charge of the wildlife collection program. It's being managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). However, IBRRC and Tri-State are providing trained and experienced personnel to help with this effort. Six of our capture teams are currently on site and more are coming in the next few days. We hope to start going out in the field tomorrow.

On Monday, May 3, we received the second oiled bird. It was a Brown Pelican that was picked up in one of the remote islands in Southern Louisiana by the USFWS. The bird is in good condition. (See photo ^above^)

Many people have asked how we organize and manage a spill of this magnitude. It is impossible for one organization to attempt to manage the oiled wildlife rehabilitation program that incorporates four states, large quantities of oil and vast areas of shoreline. Because of this, Tri-state and IBRRC have once again joined forces and combined our individual oiled wildlife response teams into one larger team capable of handling a large spill such as this one.

Between both the organizations we have responded to about 400 oil spills. In this case Tri-State is taking the lead role and IBRRC is working in tandem with them to help provide oversight for the rehabilitation program.

In 2005 we worked together in the same area in Venice, Louisiana and cared for over 200 baby oiled pelicans that were oiled after a pipeline broke and crude oil was strewn over one of the islands in the Breton Island National Refuge during Tropical Storm Arlene. We have also partnered on many other spills in the U.S. and in other countries.

I will keep you all updated as we move ahead in this oil spill.

To date, we have checked in four hundred ducklings. Someone brought in a duck nest (I don't know the circumstances) with eggs, and just-hatched babies. The new chicks were checked in and weighed and put in an incubator in ICU. The unhatched eggs, all of which have pipped, were placed in our egg incubator. We expect to have more baby ducklings tomorrow morning, as these hatch overnight.

A kind Samaritan brought in six ducklings. Sadly, the mother was hit and killed on a freeway on-ramp. There were eight ducklings altogether, but only six were retrieved by the kind person who brought them in. He said he would go back and search for the others at the end of his work day. The six he rescued were in good condition, and we put them in a large shorebird box with a shallow pan of water, special heat lamp, and container of duckling food. New duckling arrivals generally spend the first night in a shorebird box in ICU.

I took our two baby Black-crowned Night Herons (feathered) and our baby Great Egret outside to a sun box, which is covered with netting on on side and a sheet on the other. On top of the netting, I put a branch with leaves, which gives the babies the dappled shade they would receive in their own nests. They are very fragile (we call them spun-glass) and require extremely gentle handling. Their beak and feet seem to be too big for their body. The BCNHs are very ferocious and vocal when approached, but their bites, although startling, don't really hurt.


BCNH looking ferocious

Thanks for the update, Beans, & thank you for all you're doing to help these birds!

click

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.

Day Six

we washed the brown pelican that was captured yesterday. It was caught on Storm Island, on a small remote island in the outer barrier islands of the Mississippi Delta. I was told that there were other oiled pelicans seen but were not catchable at this point. We have still not been allowed to go out to these islands to look for birds. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is heading up the retrieval of oiled birds and there have been delays. However, we were able to get our search and capture teams activated for the first time today and are now out in the field looking for birds.

The brown pelican that was washed did great and took about 40 minutes to complete. We washed the bird during our 1 to 2 pm daily press conference and this allowed them to get some visuals on the bird. The press was cooperative and supportive of our work.

The other three centers are coming on line and they do not have any birds at this time. Tri-State and IBRRC staff continue to work diligently to bring these centers on line. DAWN has sent many cases of detergent to these three facilities and these will be shared with the turtle and mammal response groups as needed. The sea turtle and mammal response effort is being organized and managed by Dr. Mike Ziccardi of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network whom IBRRC works closely with in California.

IBRRC now has 16 response team members on the ground including veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitation managers and facilities and capture specialists.

As many of you know, IBRRC has responded to many oil spills over the years but have never experienced something like this where the spill seems to mostly be sitting in one large area and slowly moving back and forth at the mercy of the tides and weather. Although we know it is close to some shorelines it still has not hit the shore heavily in any area. Pelicans, terns and other plunge feeding birds are the most at risk as they will plunge into water to catch prey.

There are now Oiled Bird Rescue Centers in Fort Jackson, Louisiana, Theodore, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida.

NB: If only the oil company and government were as prepared as these wildlife rescue centers! The day the rig exploded, IBRRC, together with OWCN (Oiled Wildlife Care Network) started mobilizing. Supplies were checked. Teams were chosen. They arrived at the site before any oil struck the shores, and set up the rescue facilities. Rescue boats are in the water, searching for oiled wildlife to bring to the rescue centers.

Staff from IBRRC & Tri-State exam a peli

Here's an email I received from Jay Holcomb this morning:

As oil begins washing ashore at Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands, a 16-person response team from International Bird Rescue Research Center is working with our partners at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research to prepare temporary rescue facilities in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, while also assisting the search and rescue effort led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Many people have asked how we organize a response to a spill of this magnitude. In our experience it’s impossible for one organization to manage a rescue effort this large—one that comprises four states, large quantities of oil and vast areas of shoreline. Because of this, Tri-State and IBRRC have once again joined forces and combined our oiled wildlife response teams into one larger team capable of handling a spill such as this.

Between the two organizations, we have responded to about 400 oil spills over the past 30 to 40 years. For this effort Tri-State is taking the lead role, and IBRRC is working in tandem to help provide oversight for the rehabilitation program. We are extremely proud of our long-standing friendship with the Tri-State team and we are honored to work alongside them here in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday we had five capture teams in the field working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They were able to make it as far east as the Breton Islands and some of the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana. A few oiled gulls and pelicans were sighted, but those birds had only spots of oil on their bellies. They were capable of flying and appeared to be in good condition. Six teams are out again today looking in different areas for oiled birds.

To date, the Louisiana Center has received four birds. The first two birds have been washed and are soon to be released in Florida. One oiled Gannet arrived at the Florida facility and is also stable. As has been said often in this response effort, we are continuing to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

No direct information from this spill, but birds who have consumed oiled fish in the past became sick and died. Diving birds have a big problem right now. The oil is widespread, and when these birds dive down into the oil water, they become oiled and eventually die. Many birds have already died at sea, beyond the reach of rescuers.

I meant to link to this video last month... How we came to use Dawn for washing oiled birds

The DAWNing of Oiled Bird Washing

What an interesting video, Beans--thanks for sharing it with us!

Me, feeding a baby groundhog....