I learned that with very small fish or with the parts of large fish you might otherwise discard, the most effective survival use is to dry them, pulverize everything, fins, bones, head, guts and all, into powder, and add the powder into whatever "stew" or "soup" you are cooking.

The idea is that nutrients, minerals, etcetera, are in all parts of a critter and, having invested the time and energy to harvest the critter, you want to consume them to get maximum benefit [and to honor the spirit of the critter, etcetera, if that is part of your belief system.]

Does this same practice, feathers aside, apply to birds?

Asian and other cultures routinely eat bird feet, wattles, brains, and perhaps other parts that we do not. I remember reading that some bird bones are used for tools, musical instruments, etcetera by various native peoples.

How would we make full use of the resources provided by a harvested bird in a survival situation?

Some hints from Alaska:

http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/Curriculum/Units/birdslesson7.html

I'd say there is a substantial amount of waste from most of the animals we consume that could be so processed into nutritious edible material. A lot of it goes into pet food now. It might be repugnant to our palates for now, but starvation would change attitudes pretty quickly I reckon.

I suspect you could so process most birds as you describe with fish and yield a lot more nutrition from them than we currently make use of.

You can even process the feathers into a highly nutritious protien goo. Soylent Bird, anyone?

-Blast

Many of the carcass parts that are incorporated into pet food don't even make decent pet food. Many food-poor cultures eat things because they are available, not because they are nutritious.

For instance: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080130-AP-haiti-eatin.html

Sue

Boomerang. Or stick.