What is this?

 A question to start this post. What do you think this photograph shows?

Photo 1: The Mystery Object

Let's see what Artificial Intelligence (Google's Gemini) thinks it is.

"This is likely a worm cast which is the excrement of an earthworm or a marine worm like a lugworm. Worms ingest soil or sand, filter out nutrients and organic matter, and then excrete the indigestible material, forming these distinctive coiled mounds on the surface."

Gemini used information from 4 websites to give its answer: Wikipedia, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), The Wildlife Trusts and a blog . [Note: the Gemini search involved a lot more websites (77) but chose to base its answer on these four]. Three of these four sites were reasonable choices but I question the use of a blog from a fiction & nonfiction author as an information source on this topic. [Note: the blog in question, lauraperdew.com, is excellent and well worth a visit - just not as a primary source of information on the natural world].

Interestingly, when asked again (same question as above: what is this?), Gemini hardened its answer to a lugworm cast.

Clearly, this is not a photo of a worm cast as it is obviously on a paving slab of some description; i.e. not the place where you would find a worm cast! My follow-up question was: what animal left this faeces? And Gemini's response:

"Based on the appearance of the scat in the image, particular its long, tubular, and somewhat segmented or twisted shape, with tapering ends and what appears to be a uniform, muddy or possibly fibrous texture, it is consistent with the characteristics of fox scat."

This time Gemini's answer was based on just two websites (the Mammal Society and two different web pages of The Wildlife Trusts) though it had checked out a good deal more.

Here is some context that Gemini was not privileged to. The photograph (Photo 1) was taken on the garden patio, close to our bird feeder, in our urban garden in Hereford. I have indicated the exact location of the poop.

Photo 2: Poop Location

It is certainly not impossible that the photograph (Photo 1) is that of a fox scat. After all, urban foxes are not uncommon in towns and cities. However, there have been no recent reports of foxes in this part of the city and no additional evidence for their presence (fox tracks, remains of dead pigeons, holes dug in flower beds, etc).

On the balance of probability, I suspect this poop to be of bird origin (near a bird feeder) and, more specifically, the excrement of a wood pigeon because of the poop size. Wood pigeons are a constant bane ever since they decided to use our garden for breeding and raising their young (see here, here and here, for example). This month has seen the third occurrence of nesting wood pigeons in the garden albeit in the winter flowering cherry tree this time instead of the usual wisteria. I thought it might be a bit late in the season for breeding but, apparently, they can breed all-year-round with April - October the main breeding season. The latest nest and occupants (Photo 3) seem to have been trying to reproduce since mid-August but have only been nest-sitting for the last week or so.

Photo 3: Third Pigeon Nest of the Year in the Cherry Tree (19th Sept 2025)

My final reason for discarding Gemini's suggestion of fox scat is the prevalence of the aforementioned wood pigeons. Although the wood pigeon is not the sharpest tool in the shed, it is difficult to believe they would attempt to rear young in the presence of a known predator.

Typically, wood pigeon poop is a splat or a smear because it has either fallen from a height (e.g. tree) or they have defecated as they fly away. Colour, shape and consistency will depend on their diet. Our wood pigeons are spending a considerable amount of time standing and walking on the patio in the vicinity of the bird feeders. My hypothesis is that stationary birds on the ground produce this coiled structure. I have seen similar, but smaller, coils on fences used as perches by smaller birds. Gemini is dead against the idea these are wood pigeon droppings even when asked directly if that is what they are. Maybe we will never know for sure unless I catch the culprit in the act.