My pet cockatiel died, and I want to know how long it will take to compost the bird in the soil before I can dig up the skeleton and save it.
I am sorry for the loss of your cockatiel. I think that you can either put the body in the compost or find a way to salvage the skeleton, but not both. Bird bones have hollow cavities, and would likely break down quickly in the soil. Some permaculture discussion groups online suggest not burying birds, but instead storing them in the freezer until there are active ant nests, and then leaving them exposed for the ants to clean. I was not sure if this would work, so I consulted Dennis Paulson, Director Emeritus of the Slater Museum of Natural History at University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
He says that “putting something as small as a cockatiel in the ground isn’t the best idea, as their smaller bones would probably suffer. Putting it near an ant nest might not be much better, as the ants could carry off those small smaller bones. To make a good skeleton, you need to skin the bird and remove a lot of the bigger muscles (in particular, the flight muscles on the breast) as well as the intestines and other organs from the body cavity.” The Slater Museum of Natural History can skeletonize small birds by using their colony of dermestid beetles that eat all the soft tissues, which is the best way to skeletonize something of that size. The museum accepts donations of specimens, but they may also be willing to assist someone who wants to commemorate their pet bird in this way.
In general, dead animals that are not pets and weigh over fifteen pounds must be collected by Seattle Animal Control, but smaller animals that show no signs of disease may be double-bagged and put in the garbage. King County has similar guidelines. Dead wild birds (particularly crows and jays) that may have been affected by West Nile virus should be reported to the Public Health department at 206-205-4394.