Animal charities are caring from some of the hundreds of guillemots, razorbills and puffins that have washed up in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall in the past week
The RSPB believes most of the deaths were a "sad but natural occurrence" after the recent stormy weather.
In Devon, about 40 puffins, guillemots and razorbills were found at Thurlstone, while others have been reported from Hampshire to Cornwall.
Some of the "pitiful" oiled birds are being cared for at the South Devon Seabird Trust in Teignmouth.
The trust's founder, Jean Bradford, told BBC News: "It's a catastrophe and I think with everything else that's going on with people, the birds and other animals have been overlooked a little bit."
Mrs Bradford said the oiled and storm-blown birds that had been rescued were in a "pitiful state".
"Even if these birds get to shore, very often it's the case that they're washed back out to sea by the enormous waves that are coming in.
"By the time they reach another beach, perhaps at low tide, many of them are too ill to be saved."
A number of birds were rescued from Chesil Beach in Dorset earlier in the week and taken to the RSPCA West Hatch animal centre in Taunton.
Comment: Clearly, warm-cool temperature differences and humidity alone do not explain what causes tornadoes, waterspouts, hurricanes and other air spirals to form.
In his upcoming book on Earth Changes, SOTT.net editor Pierre Lescaudron explains the primary driver behind air spirals: