OIL ON BIRDS’ FEATHERS

Forest and Bird, Issue 138, 1 November 1960, Page 18

OIL ON BIRDS’ FEATHERS

During the summer you may pick up on the beach a poor sea bird, its feathers so covered with oil that it cannot fly. If left to its fate such a bird will of course die. Many bird watchers have attempted to clean these unfortunate birds and it has been found that the thing you must not do is to bath them with soap or detergent. (Petrol or kerosene are even worse because they would probably kill the bird). The reason why soap or detergent should not be used is that they will wash the natural oil from the bird’s feathers and then it will lose its power to float. When a sea bird can’t float it drowns! Mrs. Katherine Tottenham, an English bird lover, has found a solution. She says that “a dry shampoo made of fuller’s earth and powdered chalk will not take away the natural oil from the bird’s feathers”. She tells us that she wraps the whole bird in cotton wool except for its beak and keeps it warm. She then feeds it with raw fish or whatever its correct food may be —but she first dips the food in cod liver oil. Next day ,when the bird is warm, rested and well fed, she sprinkles the feathers with the fullers earth and chalk,

which, she says should draw out the. oil in about 24 hours. In from 7 to 10 days the bird ought to be well enough to be set free at the seashore. Your chemist would probably stock fuller’s earth and powdered chalk.