Birder Jason Ward joins the science couch to teach us about the wonder and majesty of birds both big and small... then he tells us stories about birds pooping on him!

 

Hungry for more Jason Ward content? 

Check out his Twitter: @JasonWardNY

And his YouTube series, Birds of North America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FvoppCDT1k

 

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

 

[Fact Off]

 

Project Sea Hunt

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a109510.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/07/31/in-sea-rescues-the-eagle-eyes-are-pigeons/3d5f4488-1252-4858-86ec-f05204a7162e/

https://www.gocoastguard.com/about-the-coast-guard/discover-our-roles-missions/search-and-rescue

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-9/RDTE/RDTE%20PDFs/RDC_Proceedings_Article.pdf?ver=2017-04-03-071444-627

 

Elephant bird CT scan

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uota-gfb102618.php

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.1540

 

[Ask the Science Couch]

 

Bird cloacas controlling poop

https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/curious-question-about-chickens-pooping-you-never-knew-you-wanted-know/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/610776/can-birds-control-their-bladders

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-footed_Booby/lifehistory

https://www.dvm360.com/view/cloacal-disorders-and-diseases-proceedings

 

Fecal sacs

https://www.audubon.org/news/what-are-fecal-sacs-bird-diapers-basically

 

Car colors

https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/halfords-study-finds-birds-poop-on-red-cars-the-most-2012-6

 

[Butt One More Thing]

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138655-birds-use-cigarette-butts-for-chemical-warfare-against-ticks/