Fish and Wildlife Service estimated in 2016 that the spill killed 65,000-102,000 birds, though other estimates are much higher. The dead and live birds collected in Louisiana made up about 65 percent of all recovered across the Gulf of Mexico, and brown pelicans made up more than one-fifth of the total, according to the department. "That may be an overly simplistic generalization, but re-sighting data of banded pelicans often support that pattern." "Brown pelicans, like most seabirds, are thought to be hard-wired, genetically, to return to their birth colony to breed, despite moving long distances during the non-breeding season," department ornithologist Robert Dobbs said.
Other birds released in Georgia, Texas and Florida have been spotted back in Louisiana, the department said. Coast Guard station in Brunswick, Georgia, because the spill was still going on - the well wasn't capped until Sept. "It's truly impressive that it made its way back from Georgia," said Casey Wright, who spotted and photographed the pelican on a rock jetty on Queen Bess Island, which held 15-20 percent of Louisiana's pelican nests even when only about 5 acres were high enough for the big birds to nest.Ībout 36 acres are now available to birds, the department said.Īfter time with a bird rehabilitator, the pelican was taken by plane to a U.S. But a photo taken in March by a department biologist clearly shows the red band marked "33Z" that was put around the bird's leg after its June 14, 2010, rescue at the Empire jetties in Barataria Bay. Georgias Place Bird Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) rescue that provides shelter and safety for farm. Current prices for greencheek conure 500. African Greys are the smartest, most talkative birds, capable of learning any language (s). It was among 5,000 oil-covered birds collected in and off Louisiana during the spill, and among 582 pelicans that were rehabilitated, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said in a news release Thursday.īiologists don't know just when it returned to Queen Bess Island. Georgias Place Bird Sanctuary, Harvard, Illinois. We sold our latest babies but hope to have more soon. (AP) - A pelican rescued from the 2010 oil spill, cleaned of oil and released in Georgia has returned 700 miles to an island restored last year for pelicans and other seabirds.