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Appendix C

Songbird Washing Instructions

Veronica Bowers

Use this procedure to wash songbirds with contaminated feathers.
Rule #1: NEVER wash a bird until it is stable. Make sure the bird has been properly warmed,
rehydrated, and stabilized before washing.
Rule #2: If, at any time during the procedure, the bird becomes too stressed, STOP immediately
and put the bird in an incubator to rest.
Pre‐treatment of sticky residues: Sticky residue from rat traps, fly traps, and insect barriers
can be pre‐treated by using a syringe to apply small drops of heated methyl soyate or canola oil
(102–104 °F/38.9–40 °C) to the affected areas – do not saturate the bird with oil. Allow the oil to sit
for about 2 minutes before attempting to remove the residue. After the residue has softened, use
the tips of your fingers and fingernails to gently roll the residue off toward the tip of the feather
(go with the grain of the feather). Allow the bird to rest in a warm environment before proceeding
with washing. See Rule #1.
When a bird arrives still stuck in a sticky fly or rat trap (Figure C.1): Sprinkle cornmeal
on the exposed part of the trap to prevent further sticking (Figure C.2). Apply small drops of heated
canola oil to the areas where the bird is stuck to the trap. Gently remove the bird from the trap as
the oil softens the sticky adhesive. See Rule #1.
Step one: See Rule #1. Make sure the room is warm (75–78 °F/ 23.9–25.6 °C). Have the following
supplies ready: small towels or wash cloths, two washing tubs or containers that will fit the entire
bird, a soft child’s toothbrush, a 10–20 cc syringe, 5 cc syringe of warm sterile saline, Seventh
®
Generation or Dawn dish soap, and a clean surface area adjacent to a sink with screened drain.
Turn on the incubator to 95 °F/35 °C (or prepare an alternate warming unit that will provide suf-
ficient heat for the bird to maintain body temperature while it preens and feathers dry).
Step two: See Rule #1. Prepare washing solution in the two containers. The solution should be
1 teaspoon (5 ml) of soap to 4 cups (946 ml) of water. Make sure water is 103–104 °F (39.4–40 °C).
Make sure the water does not exceed that temperature range and that it remains at that tempera-
ture throughout the process. Placing a lid on the second tub until it is ready to be used will help
maintain the temperature of the water.
Step three: Place the bird in the first container. Keep the head above the water. If a small area
of the bird is contaminated, only submerge that part of the body. Agitate the washing solution
through the feathers using your fingertips. Going with the grain of the feathers, brush the feathers
with the soft toothbrush (Figure C.3). You can also draw up soapy water into a 10–20 cc syringe and
gently squirt solution into feathers to help remove the contaminant. If you are removing a sticky

Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition. Edited by Rebecca S. Duerr and Laurie J. Gage.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.