- Nov 9, 2013
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Page 3 @ https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/planet-rothschildi.714603/page-3
And here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mating-season-in-australia.641934/page-24
Hi, Biophiliac. You'd have to 'mine' the two threads linked here, which are the two main projects. But the poop-ring photo is, I think, in another post -- so many posts over the years!
Here's Brief Notes:
Dietary: poops -- 'blessings' (It's an old joke here) -- may show worms. Otherwise, it can be a no-brainer to tell that a poop -- and you may examine poops two or three seasons old -- is from a certain season. That is, for example, an 'autumn poop' because it has lots of mature seeds visible.
Movement: poops show, if the observer is actually cross-referencing, the colours of the soils on which the pooper has grazed. Doesn't really tell you where they grazed. But it does conclusively show that birds are moving from pasture to pasture on a daily basis.
Also shows if wild birds use a trail, and other details about movement. Can otherwise show density of birds in an area.
Pecking-order: stronger birds get better access to sought-after foods -- like my plums -- so just by looking at certain poops in certain locations, Biophiliac, you take a wild guess at the status of the bird.
Roost poops: they look different (apart from being in a roost . . . ) and they can show v roughly how long a particular roost has been used.
Poop rings: special category. Only in ten years ever seen four or five of these. (And only ever a pinch of data from direct observations: Dad and chicks sleep breast-to-breast in a tight circle)
Summary I was several years into the observations (11th year at this point) before I began to understand the value of 'indirect evidence.' These include feathers, bones, nests, footprints -- but blessings are the best source of this class of data.
Fun Bonus Fact: I sometimes watch stuff on cassowaries. (Oz is the only continent with two native ratites.) Saw a fine photo of Cassowary poop from which a jungle-tree seedling was germinating:
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