Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee on earth, and it passes through the intestines of a civet cat in order to ferment properly. In short, it comes from poop, though that is hardly the whole story.
While it may sound disgusting to most modern Americans, there are numerous dishes around the world that include some form of poop. They are often delicacies. What does bird poop taste like?
Bird poop can taste subtle, like pleasantly fermented plant matter, but it can also taste like pee and rotting meat. The diet of the bird affects how the bird poop tastes. However, birds use a cloaca, unlike the mammalian anus and uvula, so eggs, poop, and pee all come out of the same hole, often at the same time.
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What Does Bird Poop Taste Like To Humans
Why would anyone know what bird poop tastes like to humans? Regretfully, I have that answer. I was riding my bike one day when I got a surprise from the skies.
Long story short, I unconsciously ride with my mouth closed. It’s funny now, but it wasn’t at the time, and it certainly didn’t taste good. The flavor was strong, acidic, nasty, and a lot like what piles of bird poop smell like.
Happily, I can’t tell you from personal experience whether there’s a big difference flavor-wise between different types of bird poop.
However, it’s safe to assume that a bird who eats worms poops differently from a carrion-eating vulture, an aquatic duck, or a small seed and nut-eating bird. I’ll explain some of the things bird poop tastes like below.
1 – Urea (Pee)
When birds poop, more than just feces comes out. Their intestinal system doesn’t process liquids and solids the way ours does.
Instead, all the waste they produce comes out of one exit hole known as a cloaca, which they also use to pass eggs from their reproductive system.
The white part of bird poop is their equivalent of pee. This is made up of urea, and it is less watery than human pee because avians use their water more efficiently within the body.
The other part of bird droppings, the colored part, is more like mammalian poop, but it’s always released simultaneously.
According to ch.ic.ac.uk, “Urea (also known as carbamide) is a waste product of many living organisms and is the major organic component of human urine. This is because it is at the end of chain of reactions which break down the amino acids that make up proteins.”
The uric acid in bird poop can eat the paint off of cars, so it stands to reason that it could also do damage to you. Ingesting pure urea is never a good idea.
Within the body, it is carefully controlled. The burn you get from using your muscles is also caused by uric acid, so adding that to your mouth, esophagus, and stomach isn’t intelligent.
A little bit, if you get it in your mouth by accident as I did, it probably won’t hurt you, but you should never swallow it.
2 – Meat and Protein
A bird’s diet will change the way its poop tastes. Birds of prey, also known as raptors, are carnivorous.
They eat smaller animals like other birds, mice, rabbits, and even household pets. Larger raptors like eagles, owls, and some hawks eat larger prey.
Although the meat will affect the flavor of their poop to some extent, carnivore poop is likely the most pungent and most gamy flavor out of all bird poops.
However, within the carnivore group, there are also carrion eaters. Vultures, for example, tend to eat long-dead carcasses. The smell and flavor of this feces, should anyone be so unfortunate to taste it, is likely quite rancid.
Furthermore, the flavor of all poop is also composed of another organic protein called Melena.
According to Wag Walking, “Melena is the existence of blood which has been digested by the bird, and is shown within the fecal matter of the bird’s droppings.”
Because birds don’t cook, cut, and eat meat like humans, raw, digested blood is a natural part of their diet. The heart and vascular system are part of a carnivore’s diet.
3 – Fermented Plants and Seeds
Not all birds are carnivores. Some avians are omnivores that eat nuts and seeds. A bird that eats some meats and some plants will have poop that tastes like a combination of both as they break down.
Interestingly, only around two percent of all birds are purely herbivorous, living on only plant matter.
The balance of a bird’s diet can vary the flavor and consistency of its poop. Urea is always a part of bird poop. Alternately, the other part, like intestinally fermented seeds or meat, is more variable.
For example, a bird who recently ate mostly pine nuts is likely to have more pleasant tasting poop than a bird who recently ate roadkill.
Fermented plants and seeds can be tasty, and humans eat them regularly, though we don’t use avian intestines to make the fermented foods.
Is Bird Poop Edible
Some bird poop is edible, but not all of it. For the most part, it is a perilous and risky decision to eat bird poop because the chances of diseases and parasites are alarmingly high.
However, there are delicacies in Greenland that are made from bird poop.
Vice recounted a story about trying this unique cuisine, “… the droppings of the bird called a ptarmigan are considered a delicacy in certain parts of Greenland—a delicacy because, in a place of limited food resources, the oddest things can be regarded as haute cuisine. Called urumiit, it’s collected in the winter, when it’s dry (it’s unpleasantly gooey in the summer), and then cooked with rancid seal oil and chunks of seal meat.”
Helpful Tips To Know About What Bird Poop Taste Like
Some bird poop probably tastes primarily pleasant, but the urea inside it is strong and acidic. Typically, when you smell or taste something terrible, it’s a sign that your body detects danger. I would not recommend eating bird poop.
Here are some helpful tips to know about what bird poop tastes like.
- Birds who eat nuts are likely to have a nutty, earthy flavored poop. The Ptarmigan has droppings that are easily collected because it tends to hold still during the long withers in Greenland. These droppings, called urumiit, are low in urea and used to make a delicacy known as Rjúpa skítur.
- Eating bird poop can cause several health problems. Not only can birds carry parasites, but they can also have diseases like salmonella and psittacosis.
- In addition to diseases and parasites, ingesting bird droppings can also cause intestinal distress. Side effects like nausea and vomiting are common.
Final Thoughts
The taste of bird poop is often mostly made of urea, so most bird droppings taste like concentrated pee. Added to that mix is anything that the bird ate recently.
In some cases that can be relatively pleasant fermented plant matter such as nuts and seeds. Other birds eat fresh meats like worms or small animals which will give a more distinct and gamy flavor.
Finally, carrion eater’s feces likely tastes of rot and death. Regardless, unless you are eating Rjúpa skítur or a similar, professionally prepared dish, it is a very bad idea to eat bird poop intentionally.
The potential for parasites or other problems like salmonella or psittacosis is not worth the risk. Please do not eat bird poop.
