Bird Rescue Center Volunteers Work to Ruffle a Lot of Feathers

Hundreds of pelicans, grebes and other oil-slicked birds found along Orange County beaches are being treated at a hastily constructed recovery center in a warehouse on Terminal Island.

Dozens of volunteers were working Tuesday at the center, which was completed Saturday night and is operated by the Berkeley-based International Bird Rescue Research Center.

British Petroleum America, owner of the 394,000 gallons of spilled oil, has already spent $150,000 on the rescue center, according to BP spokesman Tom Thomson.

Dressed in rain suits and garbage bags cut into ponchos, about 40 volunteers Tuesday were cleaning birds using the tools of the trade: dish-washing detergent, warm water and toothbrushes.

“We have to get every last bit of oil and detergent off,” said Robin Butler, a volunteer from Long Beach, who was busy rinsing off a squirming western grebe.

Although centers near the spill are receiving birds, most cleaning and medical treatment is taking place at the Terminal Island recovery center, according to officials of the Berkeley group.

By Tuesday afternoon, the makeshift infirmary had taken in 325 western grebes, surf scoters and endangered brown pelicans. Jay Holcomb, director of the International Bird Rescue Center, said it expects to receive about 200 more injured birds.

“Of course, some die before we can get to them,” Holcomb said. “And we have to wait until they come ashore before they can be captured.”

Federal and state wildlife officials have not yet released any birds for fear that they will return to the spill site. The recovery center will keep many of the birds for up to a month.