Monitoring your bird's droppings

Checking your bird's droppings is a way to monitor its health. Some changes should be a cause for concern whereas others - particularly during conversion to a formulated diet - may be expected. Always consult your veterinarian if you have any concerns.

Clean white paper or other smooth surfaces can be used to collect your bird's droppings.

• The normal appearance of the faeces is usually soft and brown when the bird is eating a formulated diet but may be abnormally dry and black, yellow or green with a seed diet. A change in the faeces may therefore be noticed during conversion to a formulated diet.

• Larger amounts of faeces than normal may be seen in the first droppings of the morning, and in the droppings of egg-laying females and baby birds on hand-feeding formulas.
  
• Urine is normally clear.
  

• The urine may be increased in amount due to excess consumption of fruits and vegetables.

• Urine output may increase when the bird is nervous or ill.
  

• Normal urates are creamy white waste from the kidneys and are often suspended in the liquid urine or are 'wrapped around' the faeces.
  

• Any colour change in the urates is abnormal.

• A sick bird may show a change in the volume, colour, consistency or frequency of droppings.