Do birds differenciate cars when they drop their droppings?

kusonpadam91

Banned
Joined
Nov 20, 2014
Messages
2
Hello all,
I recently discovered a wierd thing when I washed my car on mornings. At home, I have 2 volvos, a 1991 Volvo 960 and a 1998 S90. Both in dark blue. Both of them are parked beneath a tree just outside my house.

I find it strange that the S90 always have bird droppings on them while the 960 rarely got them. When I switched the cars' parking position, again the S90 got the droppings, while the 960 stayed reasonably clean. So I decided to park the S90 somewhere else, thinking the 960 will get the droppings, but it didn't.

A few days later, I moved the S90 under the tree and the 960 somewhere else. The result : Bird droppings were on it.

Wierd, eh? S90 got bird droppings while 960 did not.
 

tpenfield

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 18, 2011
Messages
17,620
Yes, it is well known that birds have an instinctive knowledge of an automobile's value and defecate accordingly. this would also apply for boats parked under trees and other items of value.
 

nwcove

Admiral
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
6,293
i personally find that no matter what you drive....the birds have very good aim at the drivers door handle!! ( and pad locks for some reason?)
 

Twidget

Commander
Joined
Jun 16, 2004
Messages
2,192
My neighbor has a 20' hedge along our property line in the front yard. I park my company vehicle in the street. No matter where along the front yard I parked, it looked like a grackel bombing range. The sidewalk, car and street around the car got covered.

After speaking with the neighbor a few times about trimming the hedge, I cut it back to the property line. The grackels moved on.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Not sure why they chose one car over another. But I absolutely do know that bird (not sure what species) will drop on folks as well. I've seen that with my own eyes. They pick one person out of a group and more then one will hit that person as they fly by...even as he walks too. And that is really strange to me. I don't know what their reasoning is, but it does happen!
 

RGrew176

Commander
Joined
Mar 20, 2002
Messages
2,088
True story. Way back when I first hired into Ford there were hundreds of sea gulls that seemed to hang around the parking lot. One day on my way in as I headed to a parking spot I decided to scatter the gulls so I gunned it and scattered them. 8 1/2 hours later when I came outside to go home my dark green Ford Galaxie was white with droppings. I could only see a few small spots of green. They got me and I never tried to scatter them again.
 

Twidget

Commander
Joined
Jun 16, 2004
Messages
2,192
When I was in Boot Camp in San Diego, it always amazed me the Seagulls knew exactly how far to part so a marching company could get through.

One day, after breakfast a guy sneaked a piece of bread out to give the gulls. About the time we got back, it was time to go. Instead of breaking the bread into pieces and throwing it, he threw the whole piece straight up in the air. A gull grabbed it in mid flight and to thank him, unloaded on him at the same time. It got the visor of his cap and down the front of his shirt.. then we marched off.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,296
Birds know where to drop. I think its engrained in their DNA. I know they can hit fresh paint with pin-point accuracy. they can also hit the shift knob in a convertible while sitting at a stop light

Crows are known to pass on information to their young, so if you do a bird wrong, they and their offspring will retaliate http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/sc...crow.html?_r=0

http://news.discovery.com/animals/zo...ior-110628.htm.

regarding flying rats.... seagulls must jettison some weight upon initial flight. Used to work on a peninsula on a river for a heavy equipment company in Manitowoc. there were about 1500-2000 seagulls everyday on the roof over the shop doors. One day, some of the technicians thought it was funny to shrink-wrap my car and paint the door handles with never-seize. so I waited until they were walking from the yard to the shop door. When they were 50' from the building (right in the flight path), I tossed a rock on the roof causing the flock of flying turd factories to take flight and release a white-out of falling "stuff". Needless to say, my car was never shrink-wrapped again.
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,019
OMG if this topic is not a sign of the "Off season" for boating!! :facepalm:
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Working on a shrimp boat as a teenager it only took one time to NEVER forget your ball cap ! :eek: :facepalm:
 

drrpm

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
707
Birds don't have sphincters on their rear ends. When the excrement reaches the end of the cloaca, out it goes. Physiologically they can't really control it.
 

nwcove

Admiral
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
6,293
Birds don't have sphincters on their rear ends. When the excrement reaches the end of the cloaca, out it goes. Physiologically they can't really control it.

^^^^......now there's some "water cooler" conversation if i've ever heard it!!!!!
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
2,598
Birds don't have sphincters on their rear ends. When the excrement reaches the end of the cloaca, out it goes. Physiologically they can't really control it.



Horse Hockey !!!!! Every time they see a red Mustang they let loose, my car is proof of that fact. :D
 
Top