How to Wash a Dirty Bird

It was the morning after a dark and stormy night.  At the Wildlife Center, a new, bedraggled duck had been brought in for care.  This was a surf scoter, more commonly known as a sea duck.  These are big, burly, heavily feathered ducks that thrive in the open sea, effortlessly riding the huge swells.   They breed and nest on the far northern tundra and winter in our bays. 

They sport a bright orange and white bill that seems to start at the top of the bird’s head, black body and white eye.   Lovely orange feet complete the ensemble.

This guy was found in the Hammond boat basin. He was wet to the skin – never a good thing for a water bird – thin and weak.  It still took some skilled acrobatics from a sea kayak to nab him in a net.

He now sat in a warm, well-ventilated cardboard box, towel wrapped around him.  He looked kind of like an exhausted boxer after a tough bout.  Often we have no idea how a bird becomes ill and compromised- they are simply rescued and brought to the Center.   This one got into some chemicals somewhere in the water that caused his feathers to lose their waterproofing.  That’s all it takes.  Icy water getting through to skin causes hypothermia, which inhibits feeding which leads to weakness and death, unless a rescue happens.

So, how to clean a sea bird.

Gather two plastic pans- think shallow kitty litter boxes.  Fill them both with hot water and add LOTS of Dawn liquid dish soap to one.   The label tells the truth: it’s the best thing to use for de-oiling birds.   Put enough liquid soap in to make the water ‘slimy’ to your fingers.  Find at least one more person to help.  Gently but firmly place the duck in the first pan and  hold him as still as possible.  The helper  then scrub, scrub, scrubs.  Fingers massage feathers down to skin everywhere on the bird.  You can imagine that the duck, at this point, thinks his life is over.  We work as quickly as possible, but we’re not done yet.  Wash and scrub more.   Put the bird gently into the water-only pan and rinse with a strong stream of warm water, getting into all the hidden spots, like way under the wings and tail.  Run the water against the feather grain until the feathers feel squeaky clean.  Then…..do it all again – rinse and fill the first pan with more hot water and Dawn and start over.  More dirt and oil will appear like magic.  Birds can hold a lot of contaminants in their feathers.  Another rinse and you have an exhausted but clean bird.

Gently but quickly dry him with warm towels and place him gently in an enclosure that is dim and quiet.  If the bird is shivering, a hair dryer on low speed can be aimed into the enclosure.   We check on the washed birds but try not to disturb them until they are able to regain their equilibrium.   These are sturdy guys and unless there’s underlying illness or trauma, they’ll be ready for a nice fish dinner in a few hours.   This washing process doesn’t waterproof the bird. The bird does that.  Not just ducks either.  Each feather needs to be ‘zipped’ closed  by careful preening, and oil from an oil gland on the bird’s backside is used as a final finish.  But the feathers must be clean in order for this to be possible.

Our scoter did well and was soon doing his ‘threat’ posturing when we opened his door.  This consists of a lowered, extended head, weaving back and forth and an open bill.   Not too scary but hey, it’s all he’s got, and we like spunk in our birds.

A week or so later we watched with big smiles as he was released into Young’s Bay.  He fluffed his now clean and waterproofed feathers and immediately dove down long and far.  We wished him well and went back to the Center to wash down another bird or two.