As a dedicated seabird researcher, Leo Uesaka spends countless hours analyzing extensive bird footage. While this task can often become tedious and demanding, each moment spent reviewing the clips is crucial. It's through this careful observation that fascinating behaviors, such as the tendency of seabirds to relieve themselves only while airborne, come to light.
In a pioneering study published in Current Biology, Uesaka and his research team shed light on the bathroom habits of the streaked shearwater, a large and unassuming seabird commonly found in East Asian waters. The findings reveal that these birds engage in a specific bathroom ritual, where they not only poop midair but also do so at regular intervals of every 4 to 10 minutes. Uesaka, the lead author of the study, explained to Gizmodo that even when these birds are on the water, they will take flight if they need to “drop feces.”
The original purpose of this research project was to study how shearwaters utilize their legs during direct takeoffs from the sea surface. However, Uesaka noted that the frequency of droppings observed was so significant that it warranted further investigation into their bathroom habits. “Since I was not aiming to record droppings in the original plan, I was surprised by the feces footage itself and how frequently they appeared in the footage and the regular timing pattern,” he stated.
While researchers have previously studied bird droppings, most investigations have been conducted on land. This new study marks the first time scientists have observed seabird excretion behavior at sea. The team employed a unique and somewhat amusing method to achieve this. They tracked individual shearwaters living on Funakoshi Ohshima, an uninhabited island in Japan, by equipping each bird with a small, rear-facing video camera attached to its belly. This position was initially chosen to observe leg motion, but it ended up providing exceptional insights into the birds’ digestive dynamics.
While the reasons behind this peculiar behavior remain unclear, Uesaka speculates that other seabirds with similar flight styles, such as the albatross, may exhibit comparable tendencies. Interestingly, seabird droppings are known to be rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which suggests that these birds may unintentionally be fertilizing coastal waters. Moreover, as avian influenza is often transmitted through feces, the researchers believe that further studies into this bathroom ritual could provide valuable insights into how diseases spread among wild seabirds.
“Bird droppings may seem unpleasant,” Uesaka remarked. “But as this study shows, they can reveal surprisingly interesting aspects of animal life.” This groundbreaking research not only highlights the unique bathroom habits of streaked shearwaters but also opens up new avenues for understanding the ecological impacts of seabird behavior and health.
