tagged w/ Avian Veterinarians
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'Lights Out' policies save thousands of migratory birds from fatal attraction
by Leslie Trew Magraw
March 17, 2011
MEDILL
The Chicago skyline has become less deadly since many of its most prominent members have adopted "lights out" policies during peak migration times.
As the Loop prepares to dim its lights to save thousands of avian lives, volunteers with the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors ready themselves to pound the city streets in the early morning hours to pick up migratory birds that have collided with buildings.
Mid-March marks the beginning of the spring migration season in the area, and most prominent members of Chicago’s skyline are instituting a “lights out” policy to prevent migratory birds from being drawn to the city’s glow.
“We know that the Lights Out program is inevitably saving thousands of lives,” said Annette Prince, director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. “When cities are lit up at night, they attract birds to buildings that they would have avoided otherwise. They’ll circle [the buildings] and get confused. It’s a fatal attraction for them.”
Participating buildings turn down their lights from 11 p.m. to sunrise during the peak months of bird migration -- from mid-March to early June in the spring and from late August to mid-November in the fall.
Most song birds migrate at night using stars to navigate, the twinkling lights of the Chicago skyline disorient and distract, leading birds away from the open sky and into harm’s way.
The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to a billion birds collide with buildings each year, making it a leading cause of death for thousands of species.
Joan Bruchman, a volunteer who canvassed the Loop looking for injured and dead birds with CBCM before buildings started dimming their lights, said: “When we first started, there were birds all the time. Now I find very few birds during the dark part of the [monitoring trip].”
A building doesn’t have to be tall to be dangerous to birds; it just has to have glass. Any building that has a window -- whether reflective or transparent -- can be a lure, according to David Willard, an ornithologist at the Field Museum.
Willard, who also acts as a bird monitor, said that the more glass a building has, the bigger risk it poses to birds.
“McCormick Place [which has one of the highest bird mortality rates in the city] is a kind of squat building – it’s only a couple of stories high – but it has an extensive expanse of glass,” he said.
For the past 34 years, Willard has circled the building each morning looking for the previous night’s casualties. “The total number being killed at McCormick Place because of lights being out is now a quarter of what it used to be,” he said.
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Dead Birds Fall From Sky In Sweden, Millions Of Dead Fish Found In Maryland, Brazil, New Zealand
The Huffington Post | Travis Walter Donovan First Posted: 01- 5-11 09:11 AM | Updated: 01- 5-11 06:16 PM
UPDATE: Wildlife officials say that even more previously unreported dead birds were found in Kentucky last week.
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Millions of dead fish surfaced in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay in the U.S., Tuesday, while similar unexplained mass fish deaths occurred across the world in Brazil and New Zealand. On Wednesday, 50 birds were found dead on a street in Sweden. The news come after recents reports of mysterious massive bird and fish deaths days prior in Arkansas and Louisiana.
The Baltimore Sun reports that an estimated 2 million fish were found dead in the Chesapeake Bay, mostly adult spot with some juvenile croakers in the mix, as well. Maryland Department of the Environment spokesperson Dawn Stoltzfus says "cold-water stress" is believed to be the culprit. She told The Sun that similar large winter fish deaths were documented in 1976 and 1980.
ParanaOnline reports that 100 tons of sardines, croaker and catfish have washed up in Brazilian fishing towns since last Thursday. The cause of the deaths is unknown, with an imbalance in the environment, chemical pollution, or accidental release from a fishing boat all suggested by local officials.
In New Zealand, hundreds of dead snapper fish washed up on Coromandel Peninsula beaches, many found with their eyes missing, The New Zealand Herald reports. A Department of Conservation official allegedly claims the fish were starving due to weather conditions.
While all three events are likely unrelated, they come after recent reports of mysterious dead birds falling from the sky in both Arkansas and Louisiana. Thousands of dead birds were found in Beebe, Arkansas on New Year's Eve, and a few days later, around 500 of the same species were found 300 miles south in Louisiana. A Kentucky woman also reported finding dozens of dead birds scattered around her home. In the days prior to New Year's, nearly 100,000 fish surfaced in an Arkansas river 100 miles west of Beebe. Officials are now saying that fireworks likely caused the Arkansas bird deaths, and power lines may be to blame for the death of the birds in Louisiana.
Some remain skeptical of the explanations. Dan Cristol, a biology professor and co-founder of the Institute for Integrative Bird Behavior Studies at the College of William & Mary, told the AP that he was hesitant to believe fireworks were to blame unless "somebody blew something into the roost, literally blowing the birds into the sky."
Wednesday, officials in Sweden reported the finding of 50 dead birds on a street, suggesting that cold weather or fireworks were the likely culprit.
Bird deaths and fish kills at smaller numbers aren't all that uncommon, though the size and proximity of some of the recent events have led people to allege their relation, though officials deny the frequency of these wildlife deaths as being anything other than coincidence.
In August of 2010, tens of thousands of dead fish were reported washing ashore in two separate occasions, 200 miles apart on the East Coast.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... more
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By the CNN Wire Staff
June 16, 2010 9:55 a.m. EDT
Photo: The nesting grounds of brown pelicans and other birds have been affected, the Plaquemines Parish president says.
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- Crews cleaning up the oil in one Louisiana parish have trampled the nests and eggs of birds including the brown pelican, which came off the endangered species list last year, the head of the parish said Wednesday.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said the parish doesn't want to turn away contractors, but he called for more care when crews work in the sensitive wetlands.
He said officials recently found broken eggs and crushed chicks on Queen Bess Island, near Grand Isle.
Plastic bags containing snare boom were "recklessly placed" around the island without consideration for wildlife. In one picture released by the parish, a plastic bag was on top of a nest containing broken speckled eggs.
Dozens of people, including experienced veterinarians, have been going to the area from all over the country to help with the affected wildlife, the parish said.
Nungesser met with the Humane Society of the United States and asked it to work with contractors who are cleaning the birds to come up with a better way to enlist the help of volunteers, the parish said.
"We want to improve our comfort level of knowing someone is out there looking for these birds and other animals -- doing all they can to save them," Nungesser said on the parish website.
"The people BP sent out to clean up oil trampled the nesting grounds of brown pelicans and other birds," he said. "Pelicans just came off the endangered species list in November of last year. They already have the oil affecting their population during their reproduction time, now we have the so-called clean up crews stomping eggs.
"The lack of urgency and general disregard for Louisiana's wetlands and wildlife is enough to make you sick," he said.By the CNN Wire Staff
June 16, 2010 9:55 a.m. EDT
Photo: The nesting grounds of... more
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PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color shows where oil will reach the shore. The Chandeleur Islands and Louisiana marshes will be affected.
This web site provides a place for people to volunteer to assist in cleanup operations related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Organizations working on the cleanup may register here to be connected with volunteers. OilSpillVolunteers.com will link volunteers with cleanup organizations; we will not be directing volunteer activities.
BP, Transocean, Homeland Security, USCG, NOAA, EPA, Department of the Interior - We need to hear from you. We have 2000 people eager to be trained and eager to jump into action when the oil comes ashore. How do they get training? What can they do to help with the cleanup? Help us.
Volunteers - Please register using this form http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/register.php . Provide complete as much of the form as possible and indicate whether your contact information can be shared directly with cleanup organizations. Please do not use email to provide your volunteer information.
Caution: Do not attempt oil cleanup work without training and the required safety equipment. The oil waste is a toxic material and can pose a threat. This OSHA http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/docs/OSHA_HAZWOPER_Oil.pdf handbook for oil spill cleanup will explain.
Cleanup Organizations Needing Volunteers - Please send email to don@OilSpillVolunteers.com describing your needs and activities.
***Please route all individual volunteer offers to the registration form here on the web.
We are receiving a large number of emails and calls and it's much simpler and more reliable to keep track of volunteers in the database linked to the form. We'd hate to misplace an email and lose contact with you.
If you've signed up and had a question - Please be patient, we'll be in touch as soon as possible.
For media information, please contact Melanie Allen - mailto:sglmma@cableone.net
Please pardon the rough format of this site; there's too much to do to worry about making it pretty. We'll soon be adding:
Mailing list information
List of cleanup organizations
Phone numbers to report oiled wildlife
Spill location and movement forecast
* Suggestions and assistance are welcomed.PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color... more
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Updated: May 1, 2010
In the Gulf to help
IBBRC team lending a hand in wildlife response as oil spill hits Louisiana coastline
gulf spill photo
River of oil: 210,000 gallons of oil are spewing out into the Gulf of Mexico. (U.S. Coast Guard)
A team of aquatic-bird rescue specialists from International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in California has been activated in an effort to support local groups preparing for oil spill impact on wildlife in Louisiana.
The team of four wildlife rescue experts will be led by oil spill veteran and IBRRC Director, Jay Holcomb, who has responded to 200+ oil spills around the world, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The team will be working to support local wildlife groups and other organizations as preparations continue for the potential of wildlife casualties from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
“This is a real team effort between all groups involved,” says Holcomb. “While International Bird Rescue has a great deal of experience at managing large-scale oiled wildlife rescue efforts, our primary role here will be to support local groups and to work together to make sure we do everything we can to minimize the impact on local wildlife.”
As well as Holcomb, the team will include a team veterinarian, rehabilitation manager and capture specialist. Once on the ground, the International Bird Rescue Team will work with local organizations to determine the need for additional deployments in the coming days or weeks.
Team Bios:
Jay Holcomb - Jay has been the Executive Director at International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) since 1988. Since then Jay has led IBRRC’s oiled wildlife rescue team on over 200 oil spill responses around the world, including spills in France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Estonia, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands as well as in the US.
Heather Nevill – Heather is a native of Louisiana and is IBRRC’s Response Team Veterinarian as well as the Veterinarian for IBRRC’s Los Angeles Bird Rescue Center.
Julie Skoglund – Julie is the Rehabilitation Manager for IBRRC’s Los Angeles Bird Rescue Center. She has responded to over a dozen oil spills and recently managed the rescue of over 400 brown pelicans in Southern California.
Duane Titus – Duane is a member of IBRRC’s Emergency Response team as well as a Capture Specialist for California-based WildRescue. Duane is a Facilities and Search and Capture Specialist.
Background on spill
The oil spill involves a deepwater drilling platform approximately 45 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana.The drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded on April 20, 2010 and sank on in 5,000 feet of water. More than 100 workers scrambled off the burning rig in lifeboats. 11 workers are missing and presumed dead.
On April 29, the U.S. Coast Guard says torrent of oil is five times larger than previous estimates. The leak is now gushing 5,000 barrels — or 210,000 gallons — of crude oil a day, not a 1,000 barrels that was originally reported. While engineers work feverishly to cap the well, some officials worry the leak could go on for months – potentially becoming a devastating spill on epic proportions.
Bird species at risk along the fragile gulf coast include Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican. Their breeding season has just started.
According to reports from the National Audubon Society, "Important Bird Areas" or IBAs that could be threatened by the slick include, Chandeleur Islands IBA and Gulf Islands National Seashore IBA in Louisiana and Mississippi; also in Louisiana, the Delta National Wildlife Refuge and Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area.
We've been there before
IBRRC isn't a stranger to Louisiana oil spills. In 2005 it assisted local wildlife rescue groups following the Tropical Storm Arlene. Following the storm, Breton National Wildlife Refuge was hard hit, where thousands birds were in the middle of nesting season. As the storm swept over the area it carried with it light crude oil that had spilled from a nearby oil rig. Even though the spill was only 12-15 barrels, the storm carried it on the waves, which swept over the low island, covering the pelican chicks with oil.
Within days a large warehouse in Venice, Louisiana was quickly converted into a mash unit with 70 wildlife specialists and veterinarians evaluating and medically stabilizing the surviving birds before they could be washed. A total of 959 birds were recovered; all but three were brown pelicans and of these 268 were live chicks.
What you can do to help
As an individual, you may feel you can’t help oiled wildlife. You can. Help the non-profit organizations that help oiled animals in your area. If you live in a coastal area, there is an organization struggling to help them – support it. If you live in California, you can help support International Bird Rescue's ongoing rescue work by donating, becoming a member or adopting a bird.
To report oiled wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill please call the Wildlife reporting hotline at 1-866-557-1401.
IBRRC has been receiving an outpouring of support and phone calls from people wishing to volunteer to help at the Gulf Oil Spill. To learn how to help, you must contact the BP Community Support Team Hotline at 1-866-448-5816.
Please note: This is voice mail system, so be ready to leave a message with your contact information.Updated: May 1, 2010
In the Gulf to help
IBBRC team lending a hand in wildlife... more
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