It Hurts to Watch the Birds

I have seen the aerial photos of the oil spilling, still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP oil rig. I have seen fires, and booms to prevent it from coming ashore. But somehow the thing that breaks my heart is birds covered in oil, looking bewildered, and often frightened, cold, emaciated, dehydrated, exhausted and suffering from the internal effects of oil. So what can be done for these guys? Take them to a rescue center ASAP, it turns out--they need expert help.

What will they do there? Initial procedures may involve cleaning the eyes, nasal and oral passages of oil and dirt, applying saline eye solution, giving oral fluids and activated charcoal solution, but not washing.
To wash a bird that is already highly stressed and not medically stable could mean death. Apparently, many oiled bird's die because well-meaning people, anxious to get oil off the bird, wash it immediately. It is actually more important to give oiled birds the much needed nutrition, hydration and medical treatment they need before they are washed.
Once stable, oiled birds go through a series of tub washes alternating between baths with a one percent solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid and clean water. The wash time varies depending on the amount of oil, and the size of the bird, but on average it takes two people 45 minutes and 300 gallons of water to do a thorough washing.
After being washed, the birds are put in cages with warm air dryers. The final steps are to put them in warm water pools, where they continue to preen, and finally into cold pools. Birds in rehabilitation are checked constantly to make sure that they are completely waterproofed and when their blood work and weight are in the normal range, they are banded and released.
I learned that Procter and Gamble has made countless donations of Dawn dishwashing liquid over the years for bird cleaning operations--thank you for this largely unsung contribution to decreasing suffering.