These Seabirds Poop 5% of Their Body Weight Every Hour and They Only Do It While Flying Over the Ocean

Scientist Discovered a Seabird That Basically Never Stops Pooping

Japanese behavioral ecologist Leo Uesaka stuck tiny cameras on seabirds and accidentally discovered something truly majestic: streaked shearwaters, a type of seabird common in Japan, poop a lot. Like, a whole lot. And they do it in mid-air.   Uesaka’s original plan was to observe how these ocean-gliding birds sprint across the water before takeoff. But what dominated the footage wasn’t the elegant flapping of wings; it was relentless, airborne d…

These Seabirds Poop 5% of Their Body Weight Every Hour and They Only Do It While Flying Over the Ocean

Scientists strapped cameras to shearwaters and discovered nonstop midair pooping.

Seabirds only poop while flying - Scientific Inquirer

On Japan’s desert islands, researchers uncovered a peculiar bathroom ritual among seabirds. Reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 18, the team found that streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) poop while flying—not while floating on water—and they do so every 4 to 10 minutes. This habit may help the birds stay clean and fertilize the ocean below.  But the team didn’t set out to document the seabirds’ bathroom habit…