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16 Hand-Rearing Birds

is reasonable. Once the bird is released it will be re‐exposed to its usual parasites and will hopefully
be able to manage them when in better health. The goal is not to completely eliminate parasites but
to keep them in check during recovery.
Ectoparasites: Mites, ticks, lice, flies, fleas, and leeches can cause severe debilitation due to
anemia in chicks and spread many blood‐borne diseases. Mites and lice are often treated with
ivermectin at 0.2–0.4 mg/kg once orally (Hawkins et al. 2018); however, ivermectin takes many
hours to have an effect, which seems an eternity while chicks (and caregivers) are crawling
with mites. Many rehabilitators and wildlife veterinarians lightly dust the bird with Sevin Dust
(GardenTech) in severe cases, which works very quickly. The National Pesticide Information
Center has a factsheet on this class of chemicals available online http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/
carbarylgen.html#products. However, due to concerns about hazards to handlers and birds
from skin and respiratory exposure, many have moved away from using carbaryl‐based prod-
ucts in favor of permethrin or piperonyl butoxide/pyrethrin‐based products, such as Ultra Care
Bird Mite and Lice Spray (8 in 1 Pet Products). Gloves and good ventilation are recommended
when applying chemical pesticides – each bird may only be sprayed once but the caregiver may
be exposed a thousand times a year. Cover the bird’s eyes when spraying with any chemical. See
each chemical’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS) before handling. Bathing the chick is another option
to reduce mite numbers if the bird is strong enough to tolerate the stress; do not allow the chick
to become chilled during the washing or drying process. Feather lice can cause substantial
damage to plumage, and affected birds should also be sprayed with mite/lice spray. Look for
oval tiny nits at the base of feathers. Nitenpyram (Capstar, Novartis) tablets can be dissolved in
water and used as a flush to kill maggots in wounds. Ticks often drop off when they have fin-
ished having a blood meal, and may be affected by ivermectin. Flat flies (Hippoboscidae) are
common on young pigeons, owls, and others in North America. These fast‐moving dorso‐
ventrally flattened flies may cause excitement or horrified reactions in caregivers when a fly
suddenly pops out of a bird’s plumage and flies at or onto the caregiver. They are resistant to fly
swatters and are typically killed by an aggravated thumbnail after a madcap chase around the
clinic. Waterfowl may have leeches residing within the sinuses.
Endoparasites: Internal parasites should be diagnosed by direct wet mount and fecal examina-
tion, and treated accordingly. However, not all endoparasites can be diagnosed by fecal examina-
tion. Either the parasites are not being shed at the time of examination, or they are not shed in
feces. Some helminths can be diagnosed from mouth swabs, such as oral capillaria in ducks or
respiratory flukes in pelicans. Although gastrointestinal parasites are common, the GI tract is not
the only bodily system affected by parasites. Soft swellings anywhere on the body not explainable
and treatable as injuries may be due to parasites. Ocular flukes may cause havoc to the eyelids and
nictitans. Multiple diagnostics may be necessary.

­ Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Julie Skoglund and Guthrum Purdin for reviewing this chapter. Thanks also
to the multitude of wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians who have allowed me to pick
their brains over the past 30 years, and to the thousands of birds that have taught me about
their needs.