Relocate birds following oil spills

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

39%
Certainty

10%
Harms

5%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

If an oil spill is definitely going to affect a large number of birds and there is sufficient warning, then it may be possible to temporarily relocate birds away from the danger. This avoids having to clean birds, which can be expensive, stressful and may not work (see ‘Clean birds following oil spills’). However, it is still likely to be expensive and carries the risk that birds will not be able to return to the original site. Alternatively, there is the possibility, with fast-flying species, that they will return before the clean-up operations are complete, thus becoming oiled anyway.

Study locations

Key messages

A replicated study in South Africa found that a higher percentage of African penguins Spheniscus demersus that were relocated following an oil spill bred at their old colonies, compared to birds which were rehabilitated after being oiled, despite fewer relocated birds being seen at their home colony.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated trial following the Treasure oil spill in 2000 between Robben and Dassen Islands, Western Cape, South Africa (Wolfaardt & Nel 2003), found that 62% of 1,130 African penguins Spheniscus demersus that were moved 800 km east and released were recorded on Dassen Island, two years after the event, with 41% breeding. This compared with a higher number of rehabilitated (oiled, cleaned and released) birds being seen (75% of 2,744), but fewer breeding (17%). Relocated birds began arriving at Dassen Island 11 days after being released, with most arriving 18 days or so after relocation. In total, 19,500 birds were relocated. This study is also discussed in ‘Clean birds following oil spills’.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Wolfaardt A.C. & Nel D.C. (2003) Breeding productivity and annual cycle of rehabilitated African penguins following oiling. Pages 18-24 in: D.C. Nel & P.A. Whittington (eds.) Rehabilitation of oiled African Penguins: a conservation success story. BirdLife South Africa and Avian Demography Unit, Cape Town.

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Clean birds following oil spills Action Link	Unlikely to be beneficial	8	Synopsis Link
Relocate birds following oil spills Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Deter or prevent birds from landing on toxic pools Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link