South Devon Seabird Trust
Specialising in the Rescue, Treatment and Rehabilitation of
Oiled Seabirds
Established in 1983
Registered Charity No. 1048739
Bridled Guillemot
Most of the sea birds we have cared for are guillemots - members of the auk family.
This charity is second to none in the results it achieves in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of oiled seabirds. Our aim is, and always has been, to treat each bird as an individual - each one requiring assistance - and each one having the same hope of full recovery and a chance to return to the wild. This has meant that an average of 74% of the birds admitted into our care have been returned to the wild, and information received back from our ringed birds has provided the proof that they are successful after release.
Auks released by the Trust off the south Devon coast have been found in Shetland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Belgium, Wales, Channel Islands as well as various places around the coast of England.
Despite the fact that this Trust has evidence that oiled seabirds survive treatment and rehabilitation very well, and prove they are successful post release, there are still a few sceptics. These are not people who have first hand experience of rehabilitation, but rather comment on the work of others. The information used by such people emanates from a report published in 1997 and includes ringing data from a variety of rehabilitation centres, some of which were less than efficient in their treatment of oil contaminated birds. The fact that this report is still being quoted 13 years later serves only to be misleading and serves no useful purpose.
If people, especially those who profess to be interested in the matter of oiled seabird rehabilitation, wish to comment, they should first acquaint themselves with up-to-date information, and this of course, can be obtained from our Report.