# Do Birds Fart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910 "2008-12-19T15:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/1 "2008-12-19T15:14:19Z")
Last night a certain unmistakable odor of flatulence wafted around the bedroom. None of the humans present would own up to it, so the birds were blamed. Then it occurred to me - I don’t ever recall one of the pet birds farting though they sure as heck poop a lot. So… do they or don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/2 "2008-12-19T15:19:42Z")
Ah, that old chestnut. “If a parrot farts in the jungle, and there is nobody there to smell it, does it still make a sound?”. I’ve no idea, but I’ll be hanging around this thread with bated breath…and a clothes-peg. ---
**Author:** ![Rapier42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Rapier42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapier42)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/3 "2008-12-19T15:36:27Z")
Anecdote alert - I’ve been told that seagulls can’t fart or burp, which is why they pop when you feed them alkaseltzer. Not ever having done such, or known anybody that claimed to, or even in fact being anywhere near an ornithologist, I have no idea if the above is true. I’ll go check wiki. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/4 "2008-12-19T15:38:19Z")
[http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2001/982887628.Zo.r.html](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2001/982887628.Zo.r.html) Apparently, they do! ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/5 "2008-12-19T15:38:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t ever recall one of the pet birds farting though they sure as heck poop a lot. [DO BIRDS FART? WHY OF COURSE THE DO!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQixW3BjLwk&NR=1) The bigger the bird the bigger the fart! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/6 "2008-12-19T15:43:27Z")
> [@George Carlin](#): > > You know how you can tell when a moth farts? He flies in a straight line. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/7 "2008-12-19T16:18:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Today, 09:14 AM > > Last night… Neither of which is sparrow’s fart. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/8 "2008-12-19T16:23:43Z")
Yes they do, they also shit on my car just after I’ve washed it ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/9 "2008-12-19T16:48:18Z")
Well, I have heard many a noisy bird elimination so I would guess that they also fart, however I would doubt that it would be so smelly as to fill an entire room unless your birds are California Condors that had recently feasted on a week old rotting cow. Therefore, I think we must refer to the classic defense, Smelt It v. Dealt It. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/10 "2008-12-19T17:00:38Z")
Occasionally, in quiet moments, I believe that I’ve heard that tiny but unmistakable _pffffft_ coming from a completely unembarrassed cockatiel sitting on my shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/11 "2008-12-19T17:08:06Z")
Why do birds suddenly _pfffft_ ev’ry time you _pfffft-pffft…_ ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/12 "2008-12-19T17:19:46Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Occasionally, in quiet moments, I believe that I’ve heard that tiny but unmistakable _pffffft_ coming from a completely unembarrassed cockatiel sitting on my shoulder. 'Tiels sneeze a lot due to their dusty feathers, so you might have been hearing that. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/13 "2008-12-19T17:38:26Z")
Birds do not fart. Any gases produced in digestion leak out as fast as they’re produced, so there isn’t an opportunity for build-up. What’s limp for the dude is prickly for the licker. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/14 "2008-12-19T17:54:17Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > Birds do not fart. Any gases produced in digestion leak out as fast as they’re produced, so there isn’t an opportunity for build-up. What’s limp for the dude is prickly for the licker. I didn’t think that the site I referenced was disreputable, but one never knows. What in the world does that last sentence mean? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/15 "2008-12-19T19:01:51Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > [DO BIRDS FART? WHY OF COURSE THE DO!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQixW3BjLwk&NR=1) > > The bigger the bird the bigger the fart! I think that’s a bird _imitating_ the sound of a fart, not sure if the bird itself is actually farting or not. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/16 "2008-12-19T19:11:43Z")
… **Colibri** , being conspicuous by his absence… ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/17 "2008-12-19T19:16:41Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > Birds do not fart. Any gases produced in digestion leak out as fast as they’re produced, so there isn’t an opportunity for build-up. What’s limp for the dude is prickly for the licker. Yes, I suppose a hawk farting mid-swoop would throw off it’s aim a little! ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/18 "2008-12-19T19:18:14Z")
No dear, that was your father. Bill, stop lying to the children! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/19 "2008-12-19T20:21:44Z")
> [@CC](#): > > … **Colibri** , being conspicuous by his absence… He’s keeping his nose out of this one. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910/20 "2008-12-19T22:40:07Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > Birds do not fart. Any gases produced in digestion leak out as fast as they’re produced, so there isn’t an opportunity for build-up. What’s limp for the dude is prickly for the licker. So, everyone but me knows what that second sentence means and is laughing at me? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-birds-fart/477910.md?page=2)