Poop Feast During Bird Brooding

Many birds eat chick poo (poop) during brooding, and while this behavior may seem peculiar, there are several possible reasons for this bird behavior.

Why do parent birds eat chick poop?

Birds do not urinate and defecate separately. Many birds, such as pulsatilla, black-naped blue flycatcher, green white-eyed, white-tailed starling, tit, etc., when their chicks are young, the excrement excreted will have a bag-like something holds it, commonly known as"dung sac"(Fecal sac), a natural "diaper" for chicks. The parent bird will eat the dung sac excreted by the chicks after feeding. The possible reasons are as follows:

1. Hygiene and Environmental Cleanliness: Eating the dung sacs of chicks helps keep the nest clean and sanitary. This can avoid the accumulation of excrement in the nest, reduce the growth of pathogens and harmful bacteria, and maintain a favorable growth environment for young chicks.
2. Prevention of natural enemies: When chicks expel dung sacs, the odors and chemicals in them may attract the attention of predators, increasing the risk of exposure to the nest and chicks. Therefore, the parent birds eat the chicks' dung sacs to reduce the emission of these odors and help protect the chicks from natural enemies.
3. nutrient recovery: The digestive system of the chicks is not yet perfect, so the dung sac contains incompletely digested food and nutrients. The parent bird may not have eaten well because it gave birth to the chicks, so eating the fecal sac can recycle and use the incompletely digested nutrients in it to fill their stomachs.
4. microbial transmission: There may be some beneficial microorganisms in the dropping sacs of chicks, and eating these dropping sacs by parent birds may help to introduce beneficial microorganisms into their own digestive system, and enhance the function of intestinal flora and immune system.

If there are obvious black spots or variegated colors in the dung sac, it means that the chicks have gradually matured and grown up, the digestive system is also approaching perfection, and the nutrition in the dung sac is running out. The parent bird will bite the dung sac out of the nest, keep the nest clean, and will not eat the dung sac foolishly. After all, creatures have small heads, don't they?

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References

1. Watching the birds watching the bustle and watching the doorway– Zhang Boquan

2. Fecal sac – Wikipedia

3. The pictures in the article are all from the CC0 free gallery.