Thirty-one of the 35 birds rescued by Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research have recovered and are in the outside caging area at the Wildlife Response Annex in Newark, Del. They will soon be returned to the Potomac close to where they were discovered on Feb. 4. Photo Contributed by Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research
The Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research’s Oil Spill Response Team was activated by the Coast Guard on Thursday, Feb. 4 to respond to birds covered with oil from the newly-discovered Potomac River spill.
Two hours later two staff were on their way to the scene. They started retrieving birds Friday morning and transporting them to the Wildlife Response Annex in Newark, Del.
On the first day they retrieved about eight birds and then five to eight additional birds every today for the next five days. All were Canada geese except for two Mallard ducks. The staff stopped retrieving birds when they found geese that were only lightly oiled and were able to fly so they could no longer be caught.
The survival rate depends on a number of different variables “including what condition the birds were in to begin with,” according to Lisa Smith, executive director of Tri-State Bird. She said these birds were underweight and didn’t seem to have a reliable food source. In addition, Smith explained survival depends on the species of bird. “Canada geese are more hardy and more tolerant of being handled by humans. It also depends on what is in the product, how long it has been on the animal.” She added, “They are still wild birds and when you restrain them, they are being held by a predator so that stress factor also makes a difference. When all of these things add up, it can be too much.”
When the birds arrived at the Wildlife Response Annex, the staff began to stabilize the birds and check their temperature with a rectal thermometer. The first step was to inject subcutaneous fluids under the skin. The birds have often injested the oil in an attempt to clean their feathers so the next step is to give them Pedialyte for hydration and Pepto Bismol to flush the oil out of their system. In addition, they often got eyedrops since their eyes are irritated, too. Generally the staff waits for 12 hours to wash the birds in order to stabilize them and may tube feed them additional calories.
Smith said 31 of the 35 birds transported to the Wildlife Response Annex survived. She added although it is important to the birds, this is considered a fairly small incident in terms of response to oil spills. She said last January in an Ohio spill there were 500 affected waterfowl. Tri-State Bird was also the lead responder to the Gulf oil spill that affected 2,000 animals. Coordinating with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the plan is to release the birds near where the sheen on the Potomac was found. At this time of the year there are both migrating Canada geese and residential ones. “If wouldn’t matter where we released the migrating geese, but it might be confusing for the residential geese to be displaced in a new location.”
The mission of Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Inc. is to rehabilitate injured, orphaned, and oiled native wild birds, with the goal of returning healthy birds to their natural environment. The nonprofit treats nearly 3,000 native wild birds annually in their Frink Center for Wildlife in Newark, Del.