Birdie Butt Balm

Wouldn't you love it if you could just have one product that conditions your hair, acts as lip balm and signature perfume, with anti-louse properties, too? And what if you never had to buy it? And what if you could take it with you, wherever you went, without ever worrying about dropping it or losing it or running out of it?

That's were we birds are super-lucky, because we DO have our own free, un-lose-able conditioner / lip balm / perfume/ louse deterrent. I call it a "Birdie Butt Balm" gland!

Well, okay, Mom says it's actually called a Uropygial Gland. (I have NO idea what it has to do with Europe. I was hatched in Florida -- I've never even BEEN to Europe!)  It's also called a Preen Gland, which makes more sense to me, because that's what we use it for most often (but I still think Birdie Butt Balm gland is more fun to say).

This isn't me. Mom hasn't been able to get a picture of me preening yet. (It's kinda private, ya know?)

It's that little nub (it reminds Mom of a skin flap or hanging wart) on the top of our butt. Most of us birds have it. Whenever we want to preen our feathers, we first grab some of the stuff from that gland and then spread lightly throughout our feathers to make them soft and keep them in tip-top condition. It's also a dynamite Chapstick for us birds. I like to spread it all over my tongue because it gets so dry in our house in cooler months. (Because hello... bird. No lips here. Just a tongue and a beak. And beaks don't get chapped. But tongues can. We birds don't have much in the way of saliva for moisture.)

It also has a nice, subtle perfume to make the boy birds go crazy for us, and it helps us keep feather lice from ruining our beautiful looks.

One other factoid: In some bird species, like ducks, preening with Birdie Butt Balm is what makes their feathers waterproof. Lucky duckies!

Yup, we birds are really lucky to have such a useful thing attached to us. But if you're curious about examining it for yourself, you'd better look up more about it online, and leave your bird's butt alone. It's OUR gland, it doesn't make much and we need all of it to keep our feathers looking their best and most functional. So it's not that we don't love you, but we're NOT sharing any of our Birdie Butt Balm goodness with you. Don't touch, or we'll probably bite you. :-)

Until next time, PTH fans!