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Bird Poo

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klank:
Why is bird poo almost invariably white?

Its the season for summer swallows and seagulls to dive bomb my car parked in the drive - white splotches everywhere, Rue de la Merde!

This got me idly musing :-
Omnivores' effluent = brownish, herbivores (cow-pats) = brownish/green, but why white for birds?

Bluechip:
Klank

No blackberries! ... purple crap when in season here ....

Dave BC

one_rod:

--- Quote from: klank on May 21, 2010, 10:47:42 AM ---
Omnivores' effluent = brownish, herbivores (cow-pats) = brownish/green, but why white for birds?

--- End quote ---

Bird poo is white because of the amount of crystalline urea it contains.
Urea is a by-product of normal digestive processes which ground-dwelling creatures get rid of dissolved in their urine. (The name's a bit of a hint  ::))

Water weighs 1000kg per cubic metre, so if you want to fly under your own power you don't want to be carrying too much of it. As an evolutionary modification therefore, birds run their metabolism pretty dry, and don't have a bladder. There simply isn't enough water in a bird's discharge to dissolve the urea, hence the white colour.

Urea also contains a large amount of fixed nitrogen. This is why guano, massive accumulations of petrified bird poo, used to be such a valuable agricultural fertiliser.

Hey, I got to say "poo" twice in a post, and nobody can tell me off for it.......he, he, he......




one_rod.

Artie:
ahhhh..... mate...... this the sort of crap that noone is 'supposed' to know.....  :doh:

Rob.Wilson:
 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: its amazing what you learn on this forum ,,,,,never new that one rod ,,,,hope it comes up in the  pub quiz  :D
  :mmr: Rob

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