Table 2.
Seabird species observed in the Gulf of Mexico in waters near and adjacent to the Deepwater Horizon spill. Other aquatic species, such as herons and osprey, and all terrestrial species that were seen flying over the ocean are not included in this table. Nomenclature here follows A.O.U. (2011; see http://www.aou.org/checklist/north/, accessed 12 September 2011). Numbers in column two are the approximate minimum due to using the lowest number when observers reported individual birds in units of “tens” or “hundreds”
| Common name | Scientific name | Approximate minimum total number recorded (transects and point count surveys combined) |
|---|---|---|
| Black scoter | Melanitta americana | 1 |
| Sea duck sp. | n/a | 447 |
| Common loon | Gavia immer | 51 |
| Horned grebe | Podiceps auritus | 108 |
| Black-capped petrel | Pterodroma hasitata | 8 |
| Pterodroma sp. | Pterodroma sp. | 1 |
| Cory’s shearwater | Calonectris diomedea | 61 |
| Great shearwater | Puffinus gravis | 66 |
| Sooty shearwater | Puffinus griseus | 1 |
| Audubon’s shearwater | Puffinus lherminieri | 585 |
| Shearwater sp. | Puffinus sp. | 28 |
| Wilson’s storm-petrel | Oceanites oceanicus | 27 |
| Leach’s storm-petrel | Oceanodroma leucorhoa | 2 |
| Band-rumped storm-petrel | Oceanodroma castro | 35 |
| Storm-petrel sp. | Oceanodroma sp. | 5 |
| White-tailed tropicbird | Phaethon lepturus | 1 |
| Red-billed tropicbird | Phaethon aethereus | 5 |
| Tropicbird species | Phaethon sp. | 2 |
| Magnificent frigatebird | Fregata magnificens | 344 |
| Masked booby | Sula dactylatra | 35 |
| Brown booby | Sula leucogaster | 7 |
| Sulid sp. | Sula sp. | 5 |
| Northern gannet | Morus bassanus | 1026 |
| Neotropic cormorant | Phalacrocorax brasilianus | 6 |
| Double-crested cormorant | Phalacrocorax auritus | 100 |
| White pelican | Pelecanus erythrorhynchos | 1 |
| Brown pelican | Pelecanus occidentalis | 2693 |
| Phalaropus sp. | Phalaropus sp. | 56 |
| Red-necked phalarope | Phalaropus lobatus | 21 |
| Red phalarope | Phalaropus fulicarius | 1 |
| Bonaparte’s gull | Chroicocephalus philadelphia | 90 |
| Laughing gull | Leucophaeus atricilla | 6772 |
| Franklin’s gull | Leucophaeus pipixcan | 1 |
| Ring-billed gull | Larus delawarensis | 15 |
| Herring gull | Larus argentatus | 1531 |
| Great black-backed gull | Larus marinus | 2 |
| Gull sp. | Larus sp. | 141 |
| Brown noddy | Anous stolidus | 16 |
| Sooty tern | Onychoprion fuscatus | 871 |
| Bridled tern | Onychoprion anaethetus | 86 |
| Sooty/bridled-type terns | Onychoprion sp. | 36 |
| Least tern | Sternula antillarum | 23 |
| Gull-billed tern | Gelochelidon nilotica | 18 |
| Caspian tern | Hydroprogne caspia | 4 |
| Black tern | Chlidonias niger | 2323 |
| Roseate tern | Sterna dougallii | 2 |
| Common tern | Sterna hirundo | 1905 |
| Forster’s tern | Sterna forsteri | 31 |
| Royal tern | Thalasseus maximus | 1785 |
| Sandwich tern | Thalasseus sandvicensis | 1415 |
| Tern sp. | Tern sp. | 489 |
| South polar skua | Stercorarius maccormicki | 1 |
| Skua/large dark jaeger | Stercorarius sp. | 2 |
| Small jaeger | Stercorarius sp. | 10 |
| Pomarine jaeger | Stercorarius pomarinus | 79 |
| Parasitic jaeger | Stercorarius parasiticus | 18 |
| Long-tailed jaeger | Stercorarius longicaudus | 2 |
| Total species = 45+ | Total individuals = 23,397 |