Biologist stunned by unusual materials found packed inside bird nest: 'The oldest layer is as old as me'
Eurasian coots are making their nests out of our trash, reported ZME Science.
Researchers in Amsterdam have discovered that Eurasian coots are building nests using plastic waste dating back decades.
One nest contained 635 artificial items, including a 1994 FIFA World Cup souvenir and a 1996 McDonald's McChicken container.
"The oldest layer is as old as me — all my life, a bird was nesting here," said Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a biologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands.
Unlike natural nests that decay each year, these plastic structures can last for decades. Some coots are even reusing old plastic nests rather than building new ones — an unusual behavior for these birds.
These nests reveal how deeply plastic has worked its way into nature. Like scientists use tree rings to study past climates, these nests contain a timeline of human trash production.
Unlike natural materials that decompose within months, the plastic in these nests won't break down for hundreds of years. This represents a dramatic shift in how wild animals interact with their environments.
While birds adapt to use these materials, we don't yet know how toxic chemicals in plastics might affect developing chicks or adult birds.
These "accidental archives" also serve as physical proof of how long our everyday trash stays in the environment — the McDonald's wrapper you tossed years ago might still be in a bird's home today.
Companies are developing biodegradable packaging alternatives that break down naturally if they end up in the environment. Many communities now offer plastic recycling programs that keep waste out of waterways.
Should tourists be responsible for cleaning up their own trash?
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It depends on the place
No, they shouldn't
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You can help by reducing single-use plastic in your daily life. Choose reusable water bottles and shopping bags. Pick up plastic litter when you see it, especially near water.Support businesses that use eco-friendly packaging. And remember: Proper disposal of plastic items means they're less likely to end up in a bird's nest.
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But it's possible it was happening at supershear speed elsewhere along the fault. She said this video offers her and other earthquake scientists "a really striking observation." "We don't tend to have instruments right along the fault. They are often disrupted by shaking," she said. This happened right there in front of their eyes, on video, which means they don't only have to rely on analyzing and interpreting complicated recordings and data to determine what happened on the ground. WATCH | Myanmar earthquake rescue, relief efforts hindered by lack of supplies, civil war: How to tell what we're seeing is real Bohon said there's little doubt the video is real and she doesn't believe it's been altered or fabricated in any way. She said there are finer details in the background that you would have to pay close attention to, or that AI tools wouldn't know to generate — such as a bird flying away as the shaking begins about 12 seconds into the video, and power lines straining and eventually causing a transmission tower to buckle a few seconds later. "There's also another kind of more subtle thing," Bohon said. "It's called the geomorphology, the shape of the surface of the earth." Earthquakes, she explained, change the landscape and move hills and rivers. She pointed to the small hill in the background of the CCTV footage, situated along the fault, that thrusts forward. "That hill in the background, that you see move towards the camera," she said. "If you look at it, it's kind of long and linear, and then it just cuts off right about where the fault is." She said that if you can view the location using satellite imagery, you could look to see where the other half of that hill is in relation to the portion that moved forward in the quake. The observations Bohon made to verify what she was seeing in the video also told her a lot about the earthquake itself and that this kind of footage has "tremendous scientific value." She said that despite the violent shaking and and shifting of the earth, it was interesting to see that small structures were relatively unscathed considering the force of the quake. "Watching the destruction in the nearground and watching it in the background, and then even further away, was a really interesting look into how earthquakes impact things right next to the fault and at varying degrees away from the fault itself," she said. As "devastating and horrific" as earthquakes like the one in Myanmar can be, Bohon said they always present a learning opportunity that can hopefully be used to improve safety and protect lives. While this footage is a first, Bohon expects there will be more to come because of the prevalence of CCTV and other types of cameras that are capturing video around the clock and from multiple angles. WATCH | Rescue crews in Myanmar, Thailand work tirelessly to find quake survivors in rubble:
