Why are my bird’s droppings important?
Birds commonly develop a change in their droppings when they are sick, stressed, or consume large amounts of food with high water content, such as fruits or cooked vegetables. While not usually specific to any one disease, a change in the color, frequency, volume, wetness, or character of droppings may indicate a problem that requires immediate veterinary attention.
Most birds produce a dropping every 20 to 30 minutes unless they are under stress, sick, or are trained to hold their droppings. Some species, like toucans, lories, and lorikeets produce semi-liquid droppings naturally. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Gregory Rich, DVM; shows normal feces in a cockatiel.)
What do normal dropping look like?
In a healthy bird, droppings are green or brownish, solid, curled up, worm-like structures with some granular white material on the surface of one side and a small amount of clear liquid around the perimeter. There are three components to normal droppings:
- Fecal (or stool) component. This is the green or brown solid part, in most pet birds. The color varies with the type of food being fed. Birds consuming colored pellets may have red- or orange-colored feces.
- Urate or solid urine. Unlike most animals, birds produce a solid urate in their dropping, which helps them conserve water. The urates are usually white and are composed of uric acid crystals.
- Clear liquid portion. This component is urine.
It is important for owners to become familiar with their bird's normal droppings, as they provide important clues to illness or wellness.
What do abnormal droppings look like?
Once you get familiar with your bird's droppings, any deviation from normal is abnormal. If they remain abnormal for longer than 24 hours, take your bird to an avian veterinarian promptly.
Abnormal droppings include any of the following:
- Decrease in the number of droppings
- Increase in the number of droppings
- Change in color or texture of either the fecal component or the urate component
- Presence of undigested food particles
- "Bubbly" looking droppings
- Increase in the watery or liquid component (called polyuria or too much urine)
- Blood in the fecal or urine portion of the dropping
- Pea soup consistency of the feces
- Large volumes of clear liquid in the droppings
You may see watery droppings and assume your bird has diarrhea, but if there is no real change in the stool component, this condition is called polyuria or excess urine formation. True diarrhea is mushy or semi-liquid fecal material and may occur with several life-threatening conditions in birds. If diarrhea persists for longer than 24 hours, your bird needs veterinary attention as soon as possible.
What causes abnormal droppings?
Abnormal droppings can be influenced by the bird’s diet. For example, if your bird eats a few blueberries, its droppings will likely be blue or purple for a short time afterward. Birds that eat red- or orange-colored pellets often produce reddish or orange fecal material. A bird that consumes a lot of fresh fruit, including apples, watermelon, peaches, or grapes, will excrete a large amount of urine.
Other causes of an abnormal fecal component include intestinal diseases, liver diseases, bacterial or viral infections, and parasitic infections. Chlamydiosis, or parrot fever, a common cause of liver disease, may produce lime-green droppings in some birds. Both the stool and urate components may be lime-green with this condition. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Gregory Rich, DVM; shows undigested seed in the feces.)
Excess urine in the droppings may be an indication of kidney disease if the fruit intake has been minimal over the last 24 hours. Some toxins, such as zinc, can cause kidney damage, with the first symptom being polyuria (watery stools). Lead toxicity can cause bloody urine (hematuria), which may cause the bird to produce red or black droppings.
Female birds in a hormonal state or in the process of laying eggs often produce large droppings, due to several fecal and urine movements being retained in the intestinal tract and produced all at once. Some birds do not defecate overnight and the first morning dropping is a large accumulation of fecal and urine material.
How will my veterinarian determine the cause of the abnormal droppings?
Your veterinarian may suggest a variety of tests to help pinpoint the cause of the abnormal droppings.
- A complete blood count (CBC) is often recommended to check for evidence of an infection.
- A blood chemistry profile may be done to assess liver and kidney function as well as blood levels of protein, calcium, glucose, sodium, and potassium.
- Radiographs (X-rays) may be recommended to see if an internal disease or metal toxicity is the cause of the abnormal droppings.
- An evaluation of the droppings under a microscope (Gram stain) can be done to look for yeast, abnormal bacteria, and other abnormal cells.
- A microscopic examination of the unstained feces (called a direct fecal smear) may be done to check for intestinal parasites.
- The droppings may be sent to a laboratory for a bacterial or fungal culture if a bacterial or yeast infection is suspected.
Specific disease testing may also be required to arrive at the final diagnosis.
Can my bird be treated?
Depending on the diagnosis, most birds with abnormal droppings are successfully treated once the cause of the abnormal droppings is determined. Proper testing is critical for your veterinarian to correctly diagnose and treat your bird. In many cases, there is more than one factor causing the abnormal droppings, so it is common for an avian veterinarian to run several tests.
If you observe changes in your bird’s droppings, consult your veterinarian. Some of these conditions are life-threatening if left untreated, so time is of the essence.
