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"I don't know if you've ever tried to raise a baby bird,
“我不知道你有没有养过小鸟啊，
but it's just so time-consuming because they just eat and process food all day."
但养小鸟其实是极其耗时的一件事情，因为它们一整天都在吃东西，消化东西。”
Watch this - Dot, Goose, Rocco, and Pepper Jack are deep in sleep.
大家快看，四小只都睡着了。
But, when they hear their parents come, they shoot right up, super fast.
但当它们听到父母回来的声音它们就会立即站起来，动作超级快。
They eat worms, bees, caterpillars, and flies.
它们会吃虫子、蜜蜂、毛虫，还有苍蝇。
And they have to eat so much, because they have to grow so quickly.
它们还得吃特别特别多，因为它们必须长得特别快。
"The selection to grow fast to get out of the nest,
“选择长很快，然后早日脱离巢穴
is probably mostly related to the fact that lots of things eat baby birds.
最主要的原因可能跟很多动物都会吃鸟宝宝有关。”
And, therefore, it's a dangerous point in their life.
也就是说，在鸟巢里这段时间是它们生命中非常危险的时刻。
Getting through that quickly is important."
所以，它们必须尽快走完这个阶段。”
Now, if I know one thing about babies, it's this:
要说我对鸟宝宝有什么了解的话，那一定是：
They eat, they sleep, and they poop.
它们就会吃喝拉撒。
And it can get very messy.
说到拉，那它们的鸟巢应该很脏才对啊。
But somehow, this nest is spotless.
但这个巢不知为什么竟然一点儿也不脏。
So, where on earth does all the poop go?
那么，它们的便便都到哪里去了呢？
I recorded hours upon hours of footage to figure out exactly where this poop was going,
为了弄清楚它们的便便到底去了哪里，我接连录了好几个小时的视频，
because it seemed to just disappear into thin air.
因为它们的便便好像就这么凭空消失了。
And then, I spotted it.
接着，被我给发现了。
Turns out, the hatchlings definitely pooped a whole lot…
事实证明，这些刚孵化出来不久的幼崽拉的便便还…挺多的。
But they were pooping directly into their parent's mouth.
但它们都直接拉到了它们爸爸妈妈的嘴里。
And the parents were eating it.
这个镜头里，它们的爸爸妈妈就正在吃它们的便便。
"Uh, your observation that the nest is extremely clean is very accurate.
“嗯，你对鸟巢非常干净这点的观察是非常准确的。
And it's because they have those structures referred to as fecal sacs."
这是因为它们体内有个叫‘粪囊’的东西。”
They're basically like baby bird diapers,
基本上就相当于鸟宝宝的尿不湿，
so instead of bird poop making a huge mess,
所以，并不会有鸟粪把鸟窝搞得乌七八糟，
the fecal sacs keep it nice and contained.
粪囊就能保证鸟窝的整洁。
"I mean it really looks like a disposable diaper.
“我想说的是，它们的这个粪囊长得真的很像一次性的尿不湿。
Uh, but the adults, as you filmed,
但是，鸟爸爸鸟妈妈会，就像你拍的那样，
they'll wait at the rim of the nest for that baby to pick up that fecal sac the moment it emerges from the body."
它们会站在鸟窝的边边上等着，等宝宝们排出粪囊的那一刻立马把它接住。”
Now, once the parent has the fecal sac, they do one of two things.
爸爸妈妈接过粪囊以后，它们会做两种处理。
"If you've got young that are sedentary and they are going to be in one spot for days, maybe weeks,
“如果你个小家伙长时间不动，要在一个地方呆好几天甚至好几周，
you don't want that getting too dirty."
那你肯定不希望把那个地方搞得太脏。”
So, sometimes the parents fly away with it to drop it off somewhere else far away from the nest.
所以，有时，鸟爸爸鸟妈妈会把宝宝们拉的便便叼走，丢到远离鸟窝的地方。
But in many cases, the parents ate the fecal sac.
但很多时候，鸟爸爸鸟妈妈都会直接把宝宝们的粪囊吃掉。
"As I was watching your film, I started to get a little sick to my stomach after a while."
“看了你拍的视频，过了会儿我就开始有点反胃了。”
"Oh yeah."
“啊哦。”
"I know birds do this, but after a while,
“我知道它们是会这么干，但当你看它们这样看一会儿，
you watch them do it that many times you go 'Oh man isn't that like ew' You know?
看个好几遍，你还是会有种，‘呃，是不是太……’，会有这种感觉你知道嘛，
Why don't you just throw them all away?
直接扔了不就完了嘛？
One of the hypothesis as to why they eat them is that there's useful material in the fecal sacs.
关于鸟爸爸鸟妈妈为什么吃宝宝的粪囊，有一种假说是，粪囊里有有用的物质。
And so it might behoove the parents,
所以，可能对鸟爸爸鸟妈妈来说有必要吧，
since they're already working very hard to keep those babies fed.
因为他们已经很努力地在养这些宝宝了。
Uh, to just eat them, and capture the energy and water that is still remaining in the fecal sacs."
所以，干脆就直接把宝宝的粪囊吃掉，吸收里面残留的水和能量。”
Tasty.
味道不错。
Not all birds do this.
但并不是所有的鸟都会这么做。
So, this is an osprey nest.
比如，这是一只鱼鹰的巢。
"What they do instead is the babies,
“它们就不一样，它们的宝宝，
well when they're really young, they probably do poop in the nest a little bit.
它们小的时候可能真的就会把便便拉在窝里。
But, as they get older, the youngsters position themselves.
但是，随着年龄的增长，小家伙们就会找合适的位置便便。
When they have to go over the edge of the nest,
它们会站到窝的边边上，
they point their butts out over the edge,
把屁屁朝窝外面撅起来，
and then they'll just poop right off the edge of the nest."
直接把便便拉到窝外面。”
The world is their toilet.
鸟窝外的世界就是它们的厕所。
After 12-14 days growing in the nest,
在巢中成长了12~14天之后，
hatchlings start to get really crowded.
小家伙们就会开始变得拥挤起来。
Here's a moment where Goose, literally fell out the nest cause he barely fit.
这会儿Goose就差点从窝里掉出来，因为窝里基本已经容不下它了。
Don't worry Goose made it back in.
别担心，它又挤回去了。
"Getting to that point is rough because probably 60 percent of nests fail."
“长到这么大其实是很困难的，因为有60%的小家伙都长不到这么大。”
But this nest?
但这个小家伙呢？
It made it.
它成功了。
The very last piece of footage I captured was this: Rocco just flew right off the porch.
我拍到的最后一段镜头是这样的：Rocco从门廊上飞走了。
"Of those that do get out of the nest,
“就那些成功飞出鸟窝的小家伙来说，
they're going to have to make it through to their first year,
他们还得熬过出巢后的第一个年头，
and maybe only about 30 percent of them actually survive.
因为差不多只有30%的小家伙熬到了最后，成功地活了下来。
Now they've got to begin the important process of reproduction."
等到那时，它们自己也要开始繁殖了。”
Basically in just one year,
差不多就是一年，
the hatchlings become the parents, and the process starts all over again.
鸟宝宝就会变成鸟妈妈鸟爸爸，孵化的过程就又重新开始了。
"What can birds teach us?"
“鸟类能给我们什么启示吗？”
"Hard work.
“努力工作。
Birds are hard working individuals, that's for sure."
鸟类是非常努力工作的个体，这一点是肯定的。”
They can teach us about ourselves,
它们能教给我们有关我们自己的道理，
but they can also teach us about the world we live in.
也能给我们一些有关我们生活的这个世界的启示。
"What they are showing us is how connected the world is.
“它们向我们展示了这个世界的联系是多么密切。
Birds migrate huge distances and then there are some species which literally call the world, the world, their home.
鸟类会迁徙非常遥远的距离，而且，不夸张地说，有一些鸟类真的是以整个世界，整个地球为家的。
Increasingly, as time goes on, we studied them to preserve them and conserve them.
随着时间的推移，我们对它们的研究会越来越向将它们留在这个世界上这一目的靠近。
So, I think they really are showing us that we have to take a large picture view of the world."
所以，我觉得，它们向我们表明了，我们看待世界的眼光要长远，格局要大。
