By day 4, the chicks will poop almost every time they eat. The baby wrens will stay in the nest for 12 to 18 days. The parents bring food to the nest between 10 and 20 times per hour. That’s a lot of poop!
This video shows you how the parents keep the nest clean. The secret is that when the chicks defecate, it comes out neatly bundled inside a thin membrane called the fecal sac. The parents can easily scoop this up and dispose of it outside the nest.
Some scientists have noted that many species of birds drop the sacs far from the nest, in order to avoid leaving clues that might attract predators to the nest.
(Don’t adjust your volume. Due to technical difficulties, this clip has no audio.)
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