Why City Birds Love Cigarettes

Рет қаралды 286,804

Ай бұрын

Prepare yourself for a future helping us all get what we eat in a more environmentally sustainable way with an Online Graduate Certificate in Food Policy and Sustainability Leadership asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs/certificates/sustainable-food/?ecd22=02&
Urban birds like house finches and house sparrows are great at finding materials to repel pests and parasites from their nests. Unfortunately, one of those materials is used cigarette butts.
Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)
----------
Support us for $8/month on Patreon and keep SciShow going!
www.patreon.com/scishow
Or support us directly: complexly.com/support
Join our SciShow email list to get the latest news and highlights:
mailchi.mp/scishow/email
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: DrakoEsper , Friso, Garrett Galloway, Kenny Wilson, J. Copen, Lyndsay Brown, Jeremy Mattern, Jaap Westera, Rizwan Kassim, Christoph Schwanke, Jeffrey Mckishen, Harrison Mills, Eric Jensen, Matt Curls, Chris Mackey, Adam Brainard, Ash, Sam Lutfi, You too can be a nice person, Piya Shedden, charles george, Alex Hackman, Kevin Knupp, Chris Peters, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@scishow
Twitter: scishow
Instagram: thescishow
Facebook: scishow
#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources: docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vSaPesLANMFHBELGRlYJPPzYKfjs1-kRVNb3-bXVEriJzZCaCwJQIWjCjhIuU1Ks3IqEpfq2BJaA4CA/pub

Пікірлер: 963

@SciShow Ай бұрын

@jasonh6919 Ай бұрын

What am I missing here? I can't post a link but a simple web search will reveal the root source of these snippets. What is cellulose acetate? Cellulose acetate is a biomass material produced by chemically modifying hydroxyl groups with acetic acids in cellulose materials derived from nonedible parts of plants, such as wood fibers and cotton. ... Cellulose acetate is highly biodegradable in soil and seawater.[1-4] Generally speaking, cellulose acetate is degraded into cellulose and acetic acid through hydrolysis with water and biodegradation by esterase. Subsequently, the main chain of cellulose is biodegraded (cleaved/decomposed) by cellulase and is eventually converted into water and carbon dioxide. Plants bearing wood and cotton produce cellulose with water and carbon dioxide, thus forming the life cycle of cellulose acetate. (Figure 2)

@jesipohl6717 Ай бұрын

never toss your butts on the ground folks!

@JosephDavies Ай бұрын

Not a fan of putting the ad in the middle of the video instead of the end. I'm sure you have your reasons, but please reconsider.

@ikbintom 26 күн бұрын

The ad was way too large a part of the video

@JaSon-wc4pn 26 күн бұрын

I've seen a nest made from a purple cardigan

@mastershooter64 Ай бұрын

The title and thumbnail made me think birds just started smoking unfinished cigarettes on the ground

@nicholaslee722 Ай бұрын

City life's stressful

@ddSqueeze Ай бұрын

No, that’s the next step in the situational evolution.

@borttorbbq2556 Ай бұрын

I've seen a smoker pigeon.

@RebelRosers Ай бұрын

That was a male sparrow he called Mama

@MariaMartinez-researcher Ай бұрын

I thought they made it to attract mates... "chicks." 😂

@jensalan Ай бұрын

I never liked when people threw cigarette butts on the ground. Knowing they're made of plastic makes it so much worse.

@sunshine3914 Ай бұрын

A smoker told me, way back in 1980, that it would take over 100 years for a cigarette filter to decompose.

@kitefan1 Ай бұрын

I lived in an apartment where the man across the parking lot would go outside to smoke and throw his but on the ground. The landlord make him clean it up.

@KesSharann Ай бұрын

@@sunshine3914 Plastic doesn't decompose. It just breaks into smaller bits of plastic. This is not decomposition.

@JaysonBicBoi Ай бұрын

Where I want them to put it? I. Their pockets?

@100GTAGUY Ай бұрын

Theres also fiberglass filters which essentially take forever to break down as well and they irritate and injure animals in their own ways (fiberglass is just nasty to be around), some brands have however moved to more sustainable paper filters. Granted that doeant mean smokers should feel better about tossing em all willy nilly, littering is still littering. As a smoker myself i cant stand the litter bug smokers, they make us all look like asses. Its my own nasty habit but i prefer not to burden others with secondhand smoke and litter, so ill happily go for a lil jaunt and find an ashtray/smokers pole or garbage can on my way back.

@awsomebot1 29 күн бұрын

It's crazy that we had to change plastic straws and all... but cig butts are a greater problem and people dont even REALISE its plastic.

@tomlxyz 28 күн бұрын

The fuzz about plastic straws never made sense to me. Everything is packaged in plastic nowadays but this one small thing, the straw, which isn't even necessary to consume liquids get replaced with a different material

@ShadowManceri 26 күн бұрын

Thing with straws isn't the plastic itself, but the fact that they are long sticks that end up in sea and in a mouth of animals. It doesn't always come out like a filter. Same problem with plastic can pack holders. They get stuck around head. But yes, filters should be made out of something like paper.

@MrFuckingKololo 24 күн бұрын

@@ShadowManceriplastic straws are a complete non-issue compared to the real problem - fishing nets. Vast majority of plastic pollution of oceans is just fishing nets, it's what the Greta garbage patch is made up of, it's what kills vast majority of marine wildlife, it's the second highest source of microplastics after the car tires. All the buzz about plastic straws is just another campaign to shift the blame for destruction of our environment away from the corporations.

@badart3204 23 күн бұрын

@@ShadowMancerithat’s why you gotta eat the straws to save the turtles. Macroplasticmaxxing

@LordLux 20 күн бұрын

Meanwhile the private jet above you:

@SoulDragonWithFlow Ай бұрын

Non-Smoker here and I genuinely did not know those filters were plastic; I assumed they were paper, cotton or some other fiber. Learn a bonus new thing along with all the other cool stuff from this video. Thanks, SciShow.

@lashadi1445 Ай бұрын

You *can* still buy cotton filters to roll your own...

@cggc9510 Ай бұрын

It is actually quite common that people don't know this. I've known since the 80s but that was because I asked why they don't burn. I tried to set one on fire and eventually got it to melt, but not smolder. Plastic melts not burns. Conclusion, the butts are made from plastic.

@HIRAMECLARKEHOPS Ай бұрын

@@lashadi1445okay...

@anneboyd7811 Ай бұрын

I also have bad news about teabags...

@kellydalstok8900 29 күн бұрын

@@anneboyd7811 the pyramid ones, not the ordinary ones that compost just fine. Well, in Europe they do, I don’t know about American ones.

@abhigyanraj7302 Ай бұрын

Am I the only one who didn't know cigarette butts were made of plastic?

@soundspark Ай бұрын

Check your litter laws too.

@jeffbenton6183 Ай бұрын

Maybe it's because I live in Cali, but a year or two ago, videos I watched on KZfaq were inundated with ads from a non-profit seeking to raise awareness on the issue (we Californians aren't known for smoking addiction, but I promise you: every beach I've ever been to is chock-full evidence that people use the whole beach as their ashtray) I also had a bunch of friends in college who were heavy smokers - though I, myself, never smoked - so I had frequent opportunity to examine the anatomy of a cigarette and notice that those fibers were indeed plastic of some kind, because I'm a weirdo like that.

@jeffbenton6183 Ай бұрын

Just to clarify, it's made *with* plastic, not *of* plastic. The outer layer is just paper (I think). It's only a part in the filter that's made of a cotten-esque mess of plastic fibers.

@Hurricayne92 Ай бұрын

@@jeffbenton6183 I mean we humans have been using plasitic fibres for decades

@sunshine3914 Ай бұрын

I believe it was “True” brand that was completely plastic, in sorta the shape of a peace ☮️ sign

@orinblank2056 Ай бұрын

The butts are awful. When I was smoking, they were always a nuisance because I refuse to litter. Then you have to carry around a smelly cigarette butt until you can throw it away. The worst though is when you find one while hiking. You can be up in the most gorgeous area of nature, then look down and see an orange cigarette butt on the ground. It always made me so irritated. I pick up any of them that I encounter

@mcv2178 29 күн бұрын

Thanks!

@marcellachine5718 29 күн бұрын

And I toss litter everywhere hoping people like you pick it up and feel better about yourselfers.

@usakousa 29 күн бұрын

I always carry a portable ashtray as, like you, don't want to litter. It can cause microplastic to go into the drain and back into the tap water.

@subspace666 29 күн бұрын

butt litter doesn't matter to me really i had no problem getting rid of them anywhere outside but what did worry me a bit was starting a fire if i was in the wilderness so i made sure they were out. these days the best place to get rid of them outside is in the street (pavement) assuming no ashtray is around, since most modern city clean the street often in the morning with specialized trucks.

@mehere8038 28 күн бұрын

@@subspace666 smh! Can't believe you think that is all rational! This is why it's a criminal offence to drop butts in Australia during fire bans & heavy fines the rest of the time, that's in addition to cigarettes costing over $1 each & bins being located at regular intervals on streets, particularly near bus stops etc, with bins having a special section for butts in case they're not fully out (illegal to smoke at bus stops btw, bins are there to dispose of the butt on arrival, not to light up while waiting)

@bglas8562 Ай бұрын

😭 thank you for telling me that they're plastic. Someone told me they're cotton or something. Going to be way more careful with my butts and be more diligent on stopping

@Mike__B Ай бұрын

Why should what they are made of make you be more careful about things? If you had a half eaten sandwich would you just throw that on the ground because you're done with it? Even if cigarette butts are made of cotton you shouldn't throw your trash on the ground acting like everything from nature immediately degrades into the ground.

@petern.j.4121 Ай бұрын

@@Mike__B throwing a sandwich on the ground is literally what many people do, on purpose, to feed city birds. Where do you live for that to be frowned upon?

@thenovicewildcamper9192 Ай бұрын

Roll and Roach your own all the way

@brianmichael7102 Ай бұрын

That’s also not smoke on our filters. That’s a chemical reaction like an apple browning to make smokers feel like the filters are effective. Not all that much

@borttorbbq2556 Ай бұрын

Camel uses cotton. Several others do too

@BL3446 Ай бұрын

Did anyone else think that they were a paper product?

@Keithustus Ай бұрын

They feel like compressed cotton so that’s what I thought they were.

@KILLRXNOEVIRUS Ай бұрын

Cuz Marketing strategies to hide how horrible smoking really is.

@dragonsdynamite6403 Ай бұрын

No.

@BL3446 Ай бұрын

@@dragonsdynamite6403 Thanks for polling everyone else for me. That's networking I don't have access to.

@SoulDragonWithFlow Ай бұрын

yeahup. I assumed either paper or cotton fiber. I was wrong.

@amynoah1621 Ай бұрын

My grandparents used to feed tobacco leaves to their goats, sheep, horses and cattle for parasites.

@4RILDIGITAL 29 күн бұрын

It's astonishing how urban wildlife is adapting to human-related pollution, even capitalizing on its harmful aspects for survival.

@LosPalms 27 күн бұрын

HELL YESSSS

@Evergreen64 Ай бұрын

I can picture a bird coming up to you and saying "Hey man. You got a smoke?"

@aoifedeborha2420 Ай бұрын

The fact that most of us only knew the cancerous properties of smoking says quite a bit about the advertising of tobacco 😂

@anajeckel Ай бұрын

What do you mean?

@aoifedeborha2420 Ай бұрын

@@anajeckel well, nobody tells us that the nicotine can get rid of ticks and stuff, and literally nobody in the comments knew that cigarettes were made of plastic, so we’re told how bad they are for our health but not how they can be awful for the environment 🤷‍♀️

@Rockzilla1122 Ай бұрын

I mean they probably should spread awareness that its a common plastic pollutant, but I don't think the insectocidal properties of nicotine are that important for public health awareness.

@mcspikesky 29 күн бұрын

@@aoifedeborha2420 anecdotally, smokers get ill less but worse when they do. Bro science led me to this conclusion.. because like killing cancer, poison in the right amount keeps out the weaker entities..

@subspace666 29 күн бұрын

@@aoifedeborha2420 yea we seem to get fixated only to the negative stuff and seems birds see benefits as well. most smokers know its bad for the environment to some degree but what are we to do other then maybe quit. for non smokers it doesn't really matter for them to know or not if its bad since they are not the ones littering them and you can't force people to be environment friendly, well you shouldn't be able to force them in a free world anyway. in practice smokers will pollute less then non smokers in their lifetime since they die early often by more then a decade and butts are a tiny culprit compared to our other destructive habits, living an extra day to drive your semi truck probably pollutes more then 500 butts maybe even by factors.

@Demonoid1990 Ай бұрын

I remember when I was a teen we used to feed our farm cats raw ground beef balls with a little pipe tobacco stuffed in the center. It seemed to do a good job of treating them for worms. It is was an age old practice we learned from the local generational farms around the area.

@Darwinpasta Ай бұрын

I remember reading an old army (?) manual suggesting eating the contents of a couple of cigarettes to get rid of intestinal parasites.

@Fehrium 27 күн бұрын

@@DarwinpastaDo not eat tobacco unless you want to have a trip to the hospital, it is toxic when digested.

@SmarteeeSteve 23 күн бұрын

Maybe a nibble. But eating the amount of nicotine and tobacco in 2 cigarettes could be enough to be poisonous

@commanderjameson2708 22 күн бұрын

Garlic is also good for this. I remember reading about a guy stuck in the wilderness somewhere who got a bad case of worms. He cured himself by eating a quantity of raw garlic.

@Hytheter 21 күн бұрын

@@commanderjameson2708 Wouldn't use that for a cat though, as garlic is quite toxic to them.

@rogierbesselink7285 29 күн бұрын

At the company where i work, the birds don't bother bringing the sigatettes to the nest, they just built their nest inside the metal ashtray that is attached to the building 😂

@tomlxyz 28 күн бұрын

What happens when a smoker comes around?

@rogierbesselink7285 28 күн бұрын

@@tomlxyz the is a note now that there are birds inside , but that wasn't the case 2 years ago. A collegue put a cigarette inside the ash recipient and a few minutes later she saw a bird flying out. She was a bit chocked by this but the bird and her babies seem to be fine. Since then we placed a note there warning people about the birds.

@martinstyppa9941 Ай бұрын

Few weeks ago a crow crossed my path with a packet and still some in it. I was baffled.

@lashadi1445 Ай бұрын

Was he holding the pack in their beak?

@dinoflame9696 29 күн бұрын

@@lashadi1445 or in his hands?

@aramisortsbottcher8201 29 күн бұрын

Some people train crows to gather coins, maybe some smoker lets it gather cigs XD

@Spearca 29 күн бұрын

@@dinoflame9696 Crows don't have hands. The packet was in his breast pocket.

@Rubrickety Ай бұрын

Thus SciShow continues its long obsession with butts.

@samandom8772 Ай бұрын

Butt is legs

@handeggchan1057 Ай бұрын

City birds are so cool though, you gotta admit.

@FusionC6 Ай бұрын

even cooler now

@borttorbbq2556 Ай бұрын

Pigeons are life

@hippymoustacherides Ай бұрын

All the cool birds are doing it.

@handeggchan1057 Ай бұрын

@@FusionC6 nothing cooler than a pigeon or raven huffing down a delicious, satisfying Marlboro Red.

@IrisGlowingBlue Ай бұрын

They just need sunglasses and little bird-shaped leather jackets

@nandinivanam9524 Ай бұрын

Birds are just built different

@younggoatt Ай бұрын

agreed

@360.Tapestry Ай бұрын

i mean... hollow bones for one

@pabailon8799 Ай бұрын

Well, they are not real to begin with 🫤

@younggoatt Ай бұрын

@@pabailon8799 look up shoebill stork

@mehere8038 28 күн бұрын

@@pabailon8799 to begin with they were, only in more recent times were they swapped out for mechanical spy drones

@TheRealInscrutable Ай бұрын

I'm now picturing songbirds that sound more like Rod Stewart.

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

The first drag is the deepest, oh baby I know that the first drag is the deepest.

@johanneshalberstadt3663 Ай бұрын

By now there should be laws enforcing paper derived cigarette filters. It is ridiculous. And while at it, ban single use "disposable" e-cigarettes/vapes

@CoreyKearney Ай бұрын

Cellulose Acetate is a paper adjacent product, it is made from plant fibre, it's the same bio plastic Coke uses to green wash disanni water bottles. And no, not all cigarette manufactures use it. Some use cotton, some use fibreglass (those are worse.) Of course those kinds of mitigating facts don't suit the "here's another reason smoking is bad.." narrative Scishow is supporting.

@gunslinger2566 Ай бұрын

For the chicks.

@AhnafMardia Ай бұрын

😂😂😂😂

@FusionC6 Ай бұрын

hell ya brother!

@lazrseagull54 21 күн бұрын

The seagull who lives on my roof came in through the window and stole the sponge out of my sink!

@Katiethekitten 12 күн бұрын

😂

@sarah.s.flanagan Ай бұрын

Cigarette butts are the most littered object in the world

@cvp5882 29 күн бұрын

It's just one tiny little butt... Until there's 10 trillion of them

@user-xy6gm6ug5c Ай бұрын

I found out that my yard is the hotspot for birds. Did you know birds eat & feed their babies kitten chow? I get doorbell alerts all day because the birds empty my cats bowl everyday & take the food back to their nests in my trees.

@Keithustus Ай бұрын

So you’re turning kitten chow into cat chow, very slowly.

@cassieoz1702 Ай бұрын

I guess not surprising. I didn't know cuz my car's not allowed outside

@mehere8038 28 күн бұрын

@@cassieoz1702 nice to see a responsible cat owner for once :)

@KeithDvorak Ай бұрын

they should consider testing predators (cats, hawks, etc). if mercury concentrates as it goes up the food chain as predators consume infected prey, perhaps the same thing happens here. sure, the bird might not live long enough to worry overly about cancer, but what about animals that eat the birds?

@woodfur00 Ай бұрын

@tomlxyz 28 күн бұрын

Is there a reason to assume that doesn't happen?

@KeithDvorak 28 күн бұрын

not that i’m aware of. it certainly seems possible based on studies we already know; there appears to be a predictable (?) similarity. though i would prefer to discover than assume 👍

@bruhbruhhh6592 19 күн бұрын

Yeah this definitely isn't healthy long term

@patrickday4206 18 күн бұрын

No it doesn't

@belstar1128 Ай бұрын

alternative title Why City Dinosaurs Love Cigarettes

@tomlxyz 28 күн бұрын

Or: Why city dinosaurs raise their offspring with cigarettes

@l0lLorenzol0l Ай бұрын

Crow: "Aw yeah, muthafucking newports! God muthafucking damn!"

@johnno4127 26 күн бұрын

I've participated in adopt-a-highway programs, and the worst trash was always the cigarette butts. They're small, hard to pick up, and EVERYWHERE!

@Elongated_Muskrat Ай бұрын

They learned from prison economics

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

Yard Birds. Ex jail birds.

@SC86Canuck Ай бұрын

Do the smokers care now? When have they ever cared?

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

At the doctors office after being told they have cancer.

@LadyCLR Ай бұрын

Facts ❤ @@clifforddean232

@natepellegrino7974 Ай бұрын

so instead of singling out every smoker (includes me) maybe just say something along the lines of "do the people that trash the world care now". Because I promise you that i am very aware of how damaging my vice is and i am sure not to affect anyone or in this case anything with it. just trying to help expand your mind. Not everyone that smokes is evil lol

@LK-fc9li Ай бұрын

@@natepellegrino7974 As someone who used to smoke, I have to agree with you. I knew the butts were plastic and always disposed of them properly. Even sorting them with other plastics, so the garbage plant wouldn't have any trouble with them. No need to shame every smoker for the actions of some.

@SC86Canuck Ай бұрын

@@natepellegrino7974 It's not just about cigarette butts and the smoke, or the obvious things anyone can see. It is about the entire industry, all of the chemicals put into the manufacturing process to make cigarettes palatable and stop the cigarette from burning up completely when lit. It is about the vast amount of land that is cleared to have farms for tobacco and the people in different parts of the world, (usually poor) who farm it with poor pay and no benefits, the amount of paper used in cigarettes and their cartons. It is also about how the smoking industry in the past bought off scientists to claim that smoking is good for people, it is about how the smoking industry used pop culture to get people into smoking (movies, advertisements, etc.). The amount of corruption that stems from the cigarette industry is staggering. It is funny to me that the oil industry also uses many of the advertising and information falsifying concepts that the smoking industry previously used.

@fiddley 13 күн бұрын

I live in London and I was walking along one of the canal paths one day and saw a rather large nest made substantially with McDonalds straws...

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

Genetic traits like picking up cigarette butts for nest making is sad when you realize that such traits don't happen over night but over generations. They never stood a chance at the height of big tobacco companies when smoking was all the rage and doctors would peddle cigarettes to patients.

@urrywest 29 күн бұрын

Actually I dont think it takes millions of years of evolution for them to get these ideas. My impression is that they have a limitited number of responses trained by millions of years and that there is something about the properties of the buts that they identify as something usful and instinct does the rest.

@Wanderer_of_Sol Ай бұрын

So if it does end up being bad for the birds, I know a sure fire way to ban cigarettes fast. I'll just say that I would never anger anyone who's associated with the Migratory Bird Act.

@subspace666 29 күн бұрын

it probably isn't bad for them since they are still around to use them so i would assume its a fair trade off and worth it unless we could find a better alternative for them that serves the same function. i wanna give credit to the birds that they might know what they are doing even though we have prejudice against tobacco and plastics.

@JanosBanics 28 күн бұрын

Yeah not giving up smoking for bird.

@macdre2859 28 күн бұрын

@wanderer_of_sol I’ll throw extra butts on the ground now just to see if I can piss anyone off associated with the migratory bird act 😂

@Brisleep1 Ай бұрын

As soon as I saw the title, I knew why they do it.

@robinita46853 29 күн бұрын

Lake County just north of Chicago just passed a world class Bird Friendly Building Design Ordinance!

@buillioncubes 28 күн бұрын

I am now imagining a finch watching TV and an advert for a class action lawsuit comes on for birds harmed by contaminated building materials...

@limalicious Ай бұрын

I have not watched the video yet, but I am making a prediction: nicotine is an ingredient in some pesticide sprays, I am guessing the cigarettes help keep the nest free of flies and other parasitic or otherwise aggravating insects.

@sirkowski Ай бұрын

Implying birds are real.

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

Flipping Psyops, they're stealing DNA to keep a list of smokers in case they quit.

@bjbear5202 29 күн бұрын

Clearly SciShow is part of the conspiracy

@fugcat 28 күн бұрын

they updated them to pick up cigs, write a paper to explain it!!!

@alecwhatshisname5170 15 күн бұрын

Fun fact: before plastic became so common, cigarettes were made with biodegradable cork, this is what inspired the pattern on the filter. The filling is also designed to turn brown, to give the illusion it’s filtering more than it is.

@techheck3358 19 сағат бұрын

💯 and in between cork and plastic, they made it out of asbestos! Crazy

@ALaMode_Designer 19 күн бұрын

Great editing in this video. Very fun and energetic visuals!

@RebelRosers Ай бұрын

He shoes a male sparrow as mamma

@paddyoak1 23 күн бұрын

Shows. Shoes are for the feet.

@brian12332 Ай бұрын

I already disliked smokers because they're some of the least considerate people on the planet...

@BuilderBasti Ай бұрын

Not to defend the whole littering and getting addicted thing, but I do get how it is really difficult to stop once one's addicted. Still though, the littering is very ignorant as well as smoking next to others

@FusionC6 Ай бұрын

bro i wont even smoke one cig if im around people who dont smoke. and i pick up all butts. people ive know for years didnt even know i smoked a cig now and a again :P

@businesszeus6864 Ай бұрын

i smoke, not cigarettes, but i have a lot of friends that do, and i have terminated friendships over littering cigarette butts (id like to add that the littering was just the tips of the iceberg with these people. when someone doesn’t have the basic respect to throw trash in a can that’s literally right there, you can be sure they won’t show you any respect either)

@wmdkitty Ай бұрын

@@BuilderBasti Wouldn't have to litter if they'd bring back public ashtrays.

@BuilderBasti 29 күн бұрын

@@wmdkitty Public trash bins are still a thing?

@Mydigitalepitaph 25 күн бұрын

If you own a cat, you can help the birds with building materials. Every time you groom your cat, collect the fur. Once you have a golfball sized amount, go to a park or a back garden and place it on a twig in a tree. The birds will soon gather to take away bits of the fur to aid in insulating their nests. I regularly leave my cats fur in our garden for all the birds to freely use.

@desperadodeluxe2292 16 күн бұрын

I like leaving bits of fabric out to see if animals will take them for their nests. Stick with natural fibers. I noticed birds are attracted to cigarette smoke. You can see them around smokers preening. I thought it was for water repallancy but im realizing it could be that and to reduce parasites. Something to look out for.

@nariu7times328 Ай бұрын

I am liking the new sets, still excellent content,

@dopeymark 29 күн бұрын

House sparrows are not native birds. In fact they displace native birds.

@deancyrus1 29 күн бұрын

1:09 it's those wind turbines they've got to look out for 😂

@rebeccastolberg2148 Ай бұрын

When I was a kid, there were cigarette butts EVERYWHERE. Now I've seen one in the past 3 years.

@SmidgetTimelineTechX79 28 күн бұрын

Where the hell do you live 😢

@rebeccastolberg2148 28 күн бұрын

@@SmidgetTimelineTechX79 maybe it's that I moved from Chicago burbs to Atlanta burbs. I smell weed occasionally, but not cigarettes.

@SmidgetTimelineTechX79 27 күн бұрын

@@rebeccastolberg2148 Wild! I could send you pictures at turn arounds on some gravel roads or in like bar parking lots here in CNY and the only debris you’ll see is little white tubes in the gravel all over from the thousands of filters that have been tossed. 😵‍💫

@soundspark Ай бұрын

It's illegal to litter cigarette butts in many places.

@bengoodwin2141 Ай бұрын

Unfortunately I don't think that will really work. Better to try to gradually ban cigarettes like new Zealand is doing I think.

@Brisleep1 Ай бұрын

If someone tosses one out of the car window that's moving at 45 mph, you probably wouldn't even see it happen. Unfortunately I've been a passenger when a driver has done this, and I was left wondering what happened to the cigarette.

@alexrogers777 Ай бұрын

And yet cops never actually hold anyone accountable for littering cigarette butts

@gracequach6769 Ай бұрын

GOOD

@mehere8038 28 күн бұрын

@@bengoodwin2141 sadly that ban is no longer happening :( Was an obvious, smart idea, wasn't it!

@Derekzparty Ай бұрын

9/10 finches choose Marlboro

@Grim712 26 күн бұрын

I have witnessed my local (NSW Australia) Corvids tearing up cigarette butts by first rubbing them against rough concrete footpaths until the open up and then holding it to the ground with a claw and tearing the fibre out until it gets fluffy before flying away with the fluff. It is amazing how they have figured out how how to make use of them

@JeffTheHokie 3 күн бұрын

In Hawaii the common myna is known as "the arson bird" because they pick up cigarettes (sometimes lit) and build their nests in roof eaves. In the lower 48 starlings probably do the same.

@richardlandrum1966 Ай бұрын

When i clicked this video, i was sure it was going to be about R value. I like it when I'm wrong...means i learned

@heavymetalbassist5 Ай бұрын

For some reason I pictured the biodome scene where dude is trying to make a huge air filter from butts

@dr.nug7103 Ай бұрын

The bird is the word

@clifforddean232 Ай бұрын

Haven't you heard.

@sunshine3914 Ай бұрын

Ash wards off parasite, as well. Burnt wood was used as a natural dewormer…watched both cows & goats gnawing on it. They’ve, also, learned that lying in the center of the burnt pile will keep biting insects at bay.

@billknowles481 Ай бұрын

Hey! Love the new set!

@shawnjohnson7441 Ай бұрын

Where are birds finding enough “unsmoked butts” to build whole nests ?

@angelitabecerra Ай бұрын

Everywhere. Lots of people smoke a few puffs and throw the remnants on the ground. Especially around public transportation where they can't take they're newly it cigarette with them

@macsnafu Ай бұрын

I knew plastic straws were nearly a non-issue, but I'm surprised that the cigarette filters outpace plastic bags. I don't smoke cigarettes, so I'm already not contributing to that issue. So should I take up smoking to help the birds? Or is it enough to leave other people's cigarette butts for the birds instead of throwing them in the trash? I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm not going to take up smoking.

@hippymoustacherides Ай бұрын

Have you seen the birds that live in Home Depot fly in front of the sensor to open the door!!?? Smart.

@kitefan1 Ай бұрын

🤣When first traveled by train I was impressed by how many birds were in the stations.

@CAUGHH 28 күн бұрын

Never would’ve thought the similarity between me and Bird would be that both of our childhood home smell like cigarettes.

@Aragorn7884 Ай бұрын

...because they don't have hands to vape? 😅

@walkabout16 Ай бұрын

In the concrete maze where shadows drift, City birds find strange gifts, Amid the bustle, dust, and grit, They've learned a secret, a clever fit. House finches chirp in dawn's first light, House sparrows flit in urban flight, In alleys where the day turns night, They seek the remnants of human blight. Discarded on the pavement's edge, Beneath the bench, beside the hedge, A cigarette, a small, charred pledge, Becomes their shield, their fortress ledge. For in those fibers, poisons dwell, A scent repels the pests so well, A tiny, nicotine-laced shell, Protects their nests where hatchlings dwell. In chimneys high and eaves so low, In nests where tender fledglings grow, The toxic thread they weave and stow, A barrier against their foe. Yet, in this tale of urban lore, A paradox lies at the core, For what repels may harm them more, A double-edged tool they implore. City birds, with wisdom keen, Adapt to life in gray unseen, In cigarettes, a cure they glean, From human habits, crude and mean. So as we watch them from afar, These urban warriors, small and marred, Consider how our actions scar, The world they navigate, so hard. In every puff and ash that's cast, A legacy from present to past, City birds have found, steadfast, A way to make our trash their mast.

@angelitabecerra Ай бұрын

Great poem

@smashlee6181 26 күн бұрын

@@angelitabecerra ai bud

@snowdaysrule 25 күн бұрын

That ASU program sounds super cool!

@aellalee4767 Ай бұрын

I tried to tell my mom it's plastic. She always told me I'm wrong. Clearly not.

@justinr9753 27 күн бұрын

Take one without the paper and put it in a little acetone and it will turn to liquid.

@strawmanfallacy Ай бұрын

Wow didn't know I was early

@Mrmahicman 28 күн бұрын

Will make sure I leave all my cigarette butts out now, for the birds!

@SheenaReine Ай бұрын

i don’t smoke anymore, but when i found out they weren’t compostable, i stopped tossing them. i used to keep a can in my car, and if walking, butt them on the ground, poor liquid on it, and throw in nearest trash can/in my purse.

@SheenaReine Ай бұрын

does the course work for canadian? or is it just usa?

@erikfinkel2717 21 күн бұрын

Which is why I enjoy Lucky Strikes unfiltered

@salemsaberhagan Ай бұрын

This is like all those toxic cleaning fluids humans would pour all over the house for disinfecting to "protect the babies from germs" all over again

@borttorbbq2556 Ай бұрын

Everything is toxic.

@brandonyoung-kemkes1128 28 күн бұрын

This year I found some bird nests that were made of the fibres of most average tarps. I’m guessing an old sunbleached worn out tarp fraying in the wind.

@unemilifleur 28 күн бұрын

Just this morning we cut the grass. We keep the cuttings and mix them with leaves kept from last autumn to make mulch for our gardens. While mixing the mulch a found an old cigarette butt. We don’t smoke and the guy who owned the house before us didn’t smoke either.

@suncoastcrafting6362 Ай бұрын

The new extra long ad in the middle of the video is irritating. And I spent so much time forwarding past the ad that I lost the point of the video.

@luisostasuc8135 Ай бұрын

1/3 of the video is excessive.

@JosephDavies Ай бұрын

I agree. I think this is a bad idea for the kind of video that SciShow produces. I hope they don't do this again.

@woodfur00 Ай бұрын

When will they get that if an ad is at the end, I'll let it run while I read the comments, but if it's in the middle I am skipping past that thing with no regrets

@LiezAllLiez Ай бұрын

So, rather than putting the ad at the beginning of the video, where it can be easily skipped, or the end of it, where it can be ignored, youve put in the middle, where ive had to put the effort to look where it ends... good job. =.=

@MrDasfried Ай бұрын

Nah justskip the video completly. They dont respect your time why should you give it to them anymore.... Most info is told before the add anyway

@angelitabecerra Ай бұрын

The Sponsors require where the ad placements are. And I hate mid video rolls too 😑

@jamescheddar4896 9 күн бұрын

I've had people complain about littering and throwing cigarette butts down in front of me

@Ruffle_RAGE 5 күн бұрын

2:13 ticks are arachnids. Also, @SciShow I’m a huge fan of your channel! Y’all helped a lot when I was researching for my invertebrate zoology project! 🎉

@ShotgunLlama Ай бұрын

Me and the boys tossing spent butts at the birds to give them something to put in their nests

@anajeckel Ай бұрын

Or just buy or gather some safe nesting material and put it on an outdoors area instead.

@Keithustus Ай бұрын

@@anajeckelThe slogan is “reduce, re-use, recycle”. Dropping butts complies. Buying more other things doesn’t.

@anajeckel 24 күн бұрын

@@Keithustus I also say "or gather" which doesn't involve buying any new things.

@Keithustus 24 күн бұрын

@@anajeckel fair

@pedrodepacas-ic1cb Ай бұрын

Cellulose acetate: plasic, yes. Petroleum product, no.

@Rockzilla1122 Ай бұрын

Okay? That doesn't matter or mean anything at all to this. Stop saying this like it means it's not a plastic pollutant.

@pinkace 29 күн бұрын

Many cigarettes use cotton filters now. The brand I smoke does.

@mmps18 Сағат бұрын

Had ZERO idea the filters were made of plastic!!! wow

@donkeyhobo34 Ай бұрын

I don't think the birds are ingesting the bad chemicals in the cigarettes though. Like it's bad for us because we're inhaling it while it's burning

@Brisleep1 Ай бұрын

Swallow a tobacco leaf, the stuff is poisonous, it causes oral cancer all the time.

@sunshine3914 Ай бұрын

Possibly worse for birds, tho, bc of their size & skeleton. Nicotine blocks the action of autonomic nerve & skeletal muscle cells.

@RushedAnimation Ай бұрын

Why would they want to get rid of bugs in their nests. They eat bugs.

@l.m.2404 Ай бұрын

Seagulls do not eat insects.

@Topless_monkey Ай бұрын

Also you eat pasta but you wouldn't want to get into bed and find it there

@Adam-tu1qx Ай бұрын

The babies are not capable of hunting and are often unattended in the nest.

@younggoatt Ай бұрын

@@Topless_monkey on my bed or in a bowl on my bed? it'd be like having pasta, that just shows up... i feel an advert coming

@salemsaberhagan Ай бұрын

I mean, you wouldn't want to use your kids as bait to hunt down a tiger, now would you?

@surgicalninja216 27 күн бұрын

I never knew this. I have always hated throwing them on the floor, but I will be even more careful of where I place them moving forward

@General12th Ай бұрын

Hi Hank! Fly safe!

@froderickalabaster 21 күн бұрын

i remember taking a trip to the uk and ireland about 7 years ago and i have never seen more cigarette butts on the ground of a city than in london and edinburgh it was like it had rained butts

@EggnogTheNog 20 күн бұрын

I recently saw a crow ripping up a discarded cigarette packet. I assumed it wanted to eat the tobacco, but maybe it was looking for nesting material.

@anneboyd7811 Ай бұрын

In Paris years ago, I learned about the famous Metro crickets, which used to be heard singing from under the tracks. Apparently they are mostly gone since smoking was banned on the Metro, depriving them of the cigarette butts that were their main source of food. I'm going to go ahead and assume that these were mostly unfiltered cigarette butts, because Paris, and thus the crickets were eating tobacco and not filters.

@betofrotag1262 18 күн бұрын

Thanks for your work. Not a joke, but once I witnessed a bird dropping a JOINT/ DOPE rolled cigarette , the bird came back and picked up. I couldn't believe it 😮.

@Floran_Plantman 19 күн бұрын

I hate those and some studies say the filter they do is negligent compared to the damage a regular cigar does, is like pretence to make cigarettes look "not as bad".

@stephanieh.777 Ай бұрын

Why do cigarette smokers think it's okay to toss their butts anywhere they choose? I've lost count of the times I've seen a smoker flip their butt out onto the pavement like that's okay.

@itsoneeyebandit 27 күн бұрын

Cigarette filters are primarily made of cellulose acetate, a plant-based plastic, which makes up around 95% of all filters. The remaining 5% are made from paper and rayon. Cellulose acetate fibers are white, thin, and tightly packed together to create the filter, and can look like cotton. Cellulose acetate is an eco-friendly material made from cellulose obtained from wood produced in sustainably managed forests or cotton linters (the hairy fibers that cling to cotton seeds after harvesting) combined with acetic acid, the main constituent of vinegar.

@yugshende3 28 күн бұрын

It’s wild that I see this video and just a few hours ago I saw a completely broken sparrow. like it had stopped flapping its wings and everything.

@StYxXx 29 күн бұрын

Speaking about behavior change: When the ads were at the end of the video I usually watched them, being to lazy to skip (especially when eating while watching). But now in the middle they annoy the hell out of me and destroys the focus on the content. So I started skipping them.

@jesseperez9327 29 күн бұрын

Smoker here, my friend told me this about birds and other animals. So now I hold on to my butts and recycle them appropriately. Also when I'm out and about I like to pick them up (random butts that aren't mine) and throw them away so they aren't littered around my local parks and trails.

@marley7659 24 күн бұрын

I just remember going to paris a decade ago. The whole street was “Cigarette sidewalk”. Everywhere you step. There would be a littered cigarette. Not thrown away. Just the new cement. Now not all streets in the city were like this. Although almost everywhere I went. Tourist areas. It was horrible

@amberlee4536 26 күн бұрын

I once got divebombed by a bird while having a smoke with friends on my back porch. It really wanted our detritus. I thought it was fiending for the nic, but now I'm sad to know it was probably a desperate mama. This makes me think that whatever the risk incurred by these butts is, it won't show up until it doesn't matter in these birds, and that they just want a living clutch at all costs.