Shit the bed!

I wasn't trying to capture this Bald Eagle evacuating its bowels. I was merely taking its picture when it decided it was time to have a clear-out. I was quite surprised at the volume, or maybe length. Though from what I can see it seems to be urine rather than faeces. The main urinary excretory product in mammals is urea, which is highly soluble in water, so our urine is usually a clear liquid. The main product in birds (and reptiles) is insoluble uric acid which is in the form of small white crystals, so their urine looks like a kind of white emulsion. Now birds (and reptiles) only have one external opening into which excretory products from the intestine (ie faeces) and the kidneys (ie urine) are produced. This is known as the cloaca (which literally translates as sewer), and it is also the reproductive opening, which is why mating birds press their cloacas together. I digress, the undigested remains from the intestines are usually dark (but depends what the bird has eaten) and are coated with white urine, which is why bird droppings appear black and white.

Done