# Can Bird Poop Damage Automotive Paint?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960 "2003-09-16T16:54:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960/1 "2003-09-16T16:54:30Z")

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Is it true that bird droppings can actually damage the paint of an automobile? How is this possible??

Would cleaning it off quickly or waxing be useful in preventing this type of damage?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![hybrid\_dogfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hybrid\_dogfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hybrid_dogfish)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960/2 "2003-09-16T16:59:19Z")

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birds do not urinate, and excrete uric acid in high quantities in thei droppings. This can easily eat into the coatings on modren car paintwork. The solution is to clean it off as quickly as possible to minimise the time it sits there.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960/3 "2003-09-16T18:02:53Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by hybrid\_dogfish \*  
> \*\*birds do not urinate, and excrete uric acid in high quantities in thei droppings. This can easily eat into the coatings on modren car paintwork. The solution is to clean it off as quickly as possible to minimise the time it sits there. \*\*

An excellent product is sold by [Griot’s Garage](http://www.griotsgarage.com), called “Speed Shine”. It is a cleaner and waxer all in one. I keep a jug in the car for bird poop and other problems. They also sell a road tar remover, which I haven’t tried.

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**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960/4 "2003-09-17T19:38:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by hybrid\_dogfish \*  
> \*\*birds do not urinate, and excrete uric acid in high quantities in thei droppings. This can easily eat into the coatings on modren car paintwork. The solution is to clean it off as quickly as possible to minimise the time it sits there. \*\*

The very first mention I ever saw of Cecil Adams and his Straight Dope newspaper column was in another newspaper many years ago.That newspaper , when giving examples of the sorts of questions Cecil has answered , included one concerning bird urine. IIRC, Cecil said that the white stuff is the urine , and the darker specks of stuff in the middle is the poop.

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**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bird-poop-damage-automotive-paint/201960/5 "2003-09-17T21:16:39Z")

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You might mean [this SDStaff report.](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbirdpee.html) There’s also [this classic](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_287b.html) about animal feces in general.

The first has contains one of my favorite words: cloaca. Great stuff in that second one, too; I’ve never encountered numbles, will avoid partaking in blissoming, and enjoy fornication but not formication.