April 27, 2021
Fuel fumes
Is petrol fumes toxic to birds ?
Hi Sam,
Thank you for viewing the webinar from South Africa! It is a beautiful country with so many beautiful and interesting species of wild birds.
Birds are sensitive to all fumes, even if the fumes aren’t toxic. Their respiratory system is very complicated because they have lungs as well as air sacs. Some fumes may cause irritation, but if it is severe enough, it can cause respiratory distress and failure, resulting in death. So the bird may seem to be fine initially, and then die hours later. Other fumes are toxic and can cause almost instant death. So I’m not sure if all fumes from fuels are technically toxic, but they can still cause death for a pet bird.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda