Number of reported oiled species passes 20 (video)

Normally when I go birding I enjoy keeping a running tally of the species I’ve seen. But there’s one list that only gets more painful the longer it gets.

As of today, our video team in Louisiana has seen 14 species of oiled birds: Brown Pelican, Royal, Sandwich, and Forster’s terns, Laughing and Herring gulls, American Oystercatcher, Black-necked Stilt, Sanderling, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, American White Pelican, and Reddish Egret.

In addition to that list, birders have reported to eBird oiled Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked Phalarope, and Black Skimmer. Additional reports from other sources include Northern Gannet and Black-crowned Night-Heron. That’s a total of 21 species so far. If anyone knows of any additional reported species, please leave a note in the comments.

I’m headed to the Gulf Coast tomorrow to join our video team, and will continue to update here with what we’re seeing.

YouTube video by Gerrit Vyn, photos by Benjamin Clock. Please reblog, retweet, embed, Facebook, and generally share.