At the Refuge - Adventures with Zachary

After work, I stopped by the Refuge to close up. Check on the birds, give the evening meds, cover up the cages and turn off lights and music.

While doing a look through, I saw there was blood on Zachary’s feathers. Zachary is a female Goffin’s cockatoo and a feather picker. I took her upstairs to the bathroom with a towel and some supplies to look more closely.

When a bird breaks a blood feather, it is important to remove the entire feather shaft. They can be painful, cause more damage to the skin and even get infected if they aren’t removed. The blood on Zachary’s feathers wasn’t dripping, but it was fresh. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Some on one wing, some on the other and some on her butt. I called our director, Rich. He is a cop and was on duty at the time. He suggested that I bring her to him at the police station. With a towel. And the fancy surgical tweezers (hemostat?).

Zachary went into the carrier like it was all a big adventure. She was dancing in the car. Dancing. This bird clearly has no fear.

There were five broken feathers so small that I couldn’t even see them. Rich removed them all, with kisses and cuddles for the bird the entire time. How does he do that?

I’m not good at this part.

Anyway. Zachary must have bumped her butt on the way back because she started bleeding again. I stuck around to make sure it was clotted before putting her to bed and going home. You can read more about Zachary here.