DWH NRDA Colonial, Marsh, and Shorebird Sample Processing

Deepwater Horizon Bird Studies #3, 4, and 5 each had two primary components: 1) to estimate the proportion of visibly oiled birds via observational surveys and 2) to estimate the mortality rates of both oiled and unoiled adult birds using satellite and/or radio telemetry. This dataset contains information collected pursuant to the second objective. This dataset contains information on the blood, feather, and fecal samples from captured birds. The capture and assessment field data were collected in 2010 and 2011 by the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI, Portland, Maine, for Bird Studies #3 and 4) and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Plymouth, Massachusetts (for Bird Study #5). Individuals of the focal species were captured in both oiled (“impacted”) areas and non-oiled (“reference”) areas. Focal species included secretive marsh birds such as clapper rails and seaside sparrows; colonial waterbirds such as black skimmers, great egrets, and brown pelicans; and non-breeding shorebirds represented by American oystercatchers. ID numbers were recorded for any satellite or radio telemetry equipment that was attached to the birds prior to their release. These unique ID numbers were recorded in the “GPS ID” field of the Avian Capture dataset and the “PTT_ID” field of the telemetry dataset. Records pertaining to the same bird can be identified in each dataset using the corresponding ID values. Additional details on the American oyster catcher methodologies, data entry and review process are available in the January 2012 “Deepwater Horizon/Mississippi Canyon 252 NRDA Bird Study #5: Non-breeding Shorebirds QA/QC Notebook” produced by Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (Appendix F of the Verification and Validation Report for this dataset).