Data inputs for beached bird assessment from northern Gulf of Mexico waters and shorelines in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, 2010-05-17 - 2011-08-19

This report contains data that were collected to support NRDA beached bird studies. Unoiled frozen bird carcasses of various sizes were provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS) for two of the studies presented in this publication (study reference numbers [SRNs] 5 and 6. For SRN 7, fresh bird carcasses were obtained by the USFWS from airport animal control operations. In all studies, bird handling was done under the direction of USFWS and required permits were obtained. This report provides additional context for the posted dataset, including information about the collection and organization of the data. Characteristics of this dataset include the following: • This dataset consists of data collected cooperatively by BP and the Trustees. • This dataset focuses on data collected under six NRDA work plans: three beached bird survey efforts implemented in 2010, a bird searcher efficiency study, and studies of the persistence of beached (stranded) and on-water (floating) bird carcasses. • Data collected under two of the work plans included in this publication (Appendix A: SRNs 5 and 6) have undergone a cooperative process during which Trustee and BP representatives jointly reviewed the datasets. A similar cooperative process was underway at the time of posting for data collected under a third work plan (Appendix A: SRN 7). Cooperative review has not been conducted for data collected under the remaining work plans included in this publication (Appendix A: SRNs 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3). Before posting, work was done independently by BP contractors to verify some aspects of the posted data (e.g., positional coordinates and field data). These beached bird assessment data were collected from northern Gulf of Mexico waters and shorelines in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Collection efforts occurred from May 2010 through August 2011 under six work plans. This data publication describes the date, location, and results of bird carcass searches conducted under NRDA in 2010 as well as the fates of bird carcasses placed in the field to support NRDA-related studies. This work was conducted as part of NRDA studies agreed to and executed cooperatively by the USFWS, other DWH NRDA Trustees, and BP. This dataset includes data associated with: • Bird carcass collection efforts conducted in 2010 under NRDA, including the date, location, and results of individual bird carcass searches (SRNs 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3). • NRDA bird searcher efficiency, including the date and location of individual carcasses deployed under the study and whether or not they were collected by teams conducting beached bird surveys (SRN 5). • Beached bird carcass persistence, including date and location of individual carcasses deployed under the study and whether or not they persisted throughout the study (SRN 6). • The on-water persistence of bird carcasses, including the date and location of individual carcasses deployed under the study and whether they were floating, stranded on a shoreline, or lost on any given day during the study (SRN 7). Sampling variations may exist across observers, methods, locations, and times. Information describing bird carcasses collected from survey transects by non-NRDA personnel may be available on the following website: http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/pdfs/Bird%20Data%20Individual%2005112011.pdf.