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Have you ever seen a bird urinate? Probably no. Instead, you’ve probably noticed that birds often exude white, watery droppings with dark parts inside. You might even assume that this substance is excrement – or poop, in layman’s terms – but you would be only partly right. Read on to find out if birds pee, how they remove waste from their bodies, and what they are made of.
Birds don’t really pee
Let’s get rid of the tension. Technically speaking, birds do not urinate or urinate – at least not in the way mammals do. Unlike mammals, birds do not have a bladder to store urine. Their anatomy is different in many other ways as well. By understanding these differences, you can quickly understand why they are not technically “to the toilet”. Instead, they release all of their waste as a combined droppings of uric acid, water, and feces.
Bird Anatomy: Why Birds Don’t Pee
When mammals such as dogs excrete a liquid waste called urine, this is usually pretty obvious. Mammals have a urethra, or tubes that exit from the bladder, and they expel urine from the bladder through the urethra and through the openings of the urethra. Solid waste, known as feces, is disposed of separately.
The birds are different. Unlike mammals, they do not have a urethra, urethral openings, or, in most cases, a bladder. Here is a summary of bird anatomy related to waste disposal:
Cloaca
Instead of releasing waste through the urethra and urethral opening, which can be found on the penis in male mammals and near the vagina in female mammals, birds excrete waste through an organ called the cloaca. Cloaca comes from a Latin word meaning “to cleanse”, “sewer” or “drain”. The cloaca is an opening that connects to the reproductive, digestive, and urinary systems. Urine and feces drain into the cloaca, where they mix with each other before exiting.
It is also worth noting that the cloaca, a narrow tube, also contains reproductive organs. When reproduced, it acts as an opening through which sperm is passed from male to female.
No bladder or urethra
Birds do not store liquid waste for long in the body because birds do not have a bladder. This is intentional; after all, a bird with a full bladder will weigh a lot more, making it difficult to fly. Bird urine is not stored in the bladder, but is sent directly from the kidneys to the cloaca. The cloaca absorbs most of the liquid waste back into the body; in fact, approximately 98% of the water that is filtered by bird kidneys is reabsorbed, effectively storing water and eliminating the need for the bladder.
Since there is no bladder, there is no urethra. As noted above, any urine that is not absorbed is sent directly to the cloaca.
Digestive system of birds
Birds remove waste of urine and faeces. The digestive system of most birds begins at the mouth. From there, food and liquid travels to the stomach and then to the stomach. After being partially digested and converted into a substance called a bell, it travels to the small intestine and then to the large intestine. However, this term is a bit misleading because the bird’s large intestine is very short and thin – not much larger than the small intestine. The large intestine is also known as the rectum, and waste from there ends up in the cloaca.
Kidney
Although birds do not have a bladder and urethra, birds have a pair of kidneys that function in the same way as mammals. The main function of the kidneys is to filter toxins from the blood and then turn it into waste in the form of urine. By cleansing the blood in this way, they help maintain the delicate water and electrolyte balance.
No penis
The vast majority of male birds do not have penises. Instead, they use their cloaca to transfer sperm to the cloaca of women. However, there are exceptions. Some birds, including ostriches, some ducks and chicken birds, have penis-like organs similar to those of crocodiles.
Nitrogen waste and bird urine
Like mammals, birds produce metabolic products that contain nitrogen. These substances, known as nitrogenous waste, are produced by metabolic processes. Essentially, this waste is made up of everything that the body cannot use. Much of this waste is nitrogen; in combination with water, nitrogen forms ammonia, a highly toxic substance that must be removed quickly and efficiently for proper functioning.
The metabolic processes of birds extract energy from the consumption of protein molecules. The amino acids within these protein molecules are broken down to produce energy; the rest of the substance is converted to ammonia.
In mammals, an abundant amount of water is required to remove ammonia from the body. This is because it turns into a compound called urea, which is less toxic and requires less water to be removed from the system.
Since birds do not have a bladder, they cannot store enough water to produce urea. Instead, their bodies produce nitrogenous waste, mainly in the form of uric acid, which is the most complex form of such waste. The production requires more energy than the production of urea, but very little water is needed.
Simply put, because birds do not have a bladder, they do not produce urea or guanine. The uric acid they produce effectively flushes the harmful ammonia by-products out of the body. This substance is mostly nitrogen, but it also includes potassium and phosphate, making it an excellent fertilizer. It is highly concentrated and almost insoluble, so bird urine has a thick, white and sticky consistency.
What does Bird Pee look like?
Bird droppings usually consist of a chalky-white pasty portion and darker patches of material. The pasty white matter most closely resembles the “urine” that a bird produces. However, unlike mammalian urine, it is hardly liquid at all.
Although it is usually white, bird urine may appear slightly yellow when exposed to sunlight or after some decomposition.
Bird droppings are highly toxic and often contain parasites that can cause serious illness in mammals and other animals. In particular, avian urine and feces may contain E. coli or salmonella, so it is important not to touch them and wash your hands in case of contact with them.
How often do birds pee?
Since they do not have a bladder, most birds cannot “hold” their feces and urinate. However, there are exceptions. For example, chickens are capable of “keeping it” for a certain period of time.
Compared to mammals, birds urinate very often because they quickly digest food and fluids. Smaller birds remove waste more often than larger birds. Food passes through the digestive tract of a bird in 2.5–12 hours. As noted earlier, their intestines are also quite short, which further speeds up the process.
Birds do not need to squat or otherwise do anything to write. In fact, they often do it right when taking off in flight. This allows them to shed excess weight, making them lighter and more aerodynamic. If you have ever wondered why birds poop and pee on cars so often, it is because they often sit on power lines, telephone poles, buildings and trees that are right next to parked vehicles. When frightened by humans, they quickly remove waste by taking to the sky.
It should also be remembered that, unlike many mammals, birds do not sweat. Therefore, they do not eliminate water in this way; they lose more fluid when they breathe than anything else.
How do birds pee and how much?
Birds have a very high metabolism and an average body temperature of 102 to 112 degrees Fahrenheit, and they must eat almost constantly while awake to maintain their body temperature. Because they excrete uric acid in the feces, they urinate very often.
While most birds pee and poop at the same time, not all. For example, ostriches, which have a bladder, unlike most birds, excrete liquid urine from their cloaca before defecating with solid waste. In fact, there is speculation that some dinosaurs, which are closely related to birds, may have disposed of waste in the same way that ostriches do. Scientists suspect that terrestrial dinosaurs likely consumed waste in the same way as these hefty terrestrial birds.
Is it good luck when a bird pisses on you?
You may have heard that when a bird pees on you, it’s good luck. Naturally, most people want birds not to poop or pee on them. However, in Russia they say that birds urinate on you – this means that you will soon make money. On the other hand, according to the tales of old British wives, rook droppings should be a punishment for human misconduct.
Birds don’t pee like we do, but they eliminate liquid waste anyway
While birds cannot be said to urinate like mammals and other animals do, they do remove liquid waste and throw it out of their body. However, it mixes with solid waste or feces and is usually excreted from the cloaca when the bird takes off. Bird urine is not liquid, but more like a pasty semi-solid – and it is most like liquid urine excreted by birds.
Next: 5 main groups of animals with exoskeletons
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