How does oil spill affect seabird?

An effect of oil spills on penguins is that their feathers lose much of their ability to insulate the body, resulting in hypothermia. (It gets mighty cold where penguins live!) The birds may even swallow the oil when trying to clean their feathers that could lead to poisoning.

Fortunately for penguins, most of them live in areas that have a low likelihood of having oil spills. There is little shipping traveling that far south and no significant oil drilling.