Does it seem like your new cherry red car attracts more bird droppings than your old, beat up green one? Well, that may not be your imagination: A recent study into bird behavior suggests that red cars are at the highest danger for being a target for defecating avians.

In the study, conducted in June 2012 for online retailer Halfords on 1,140 cars in the U.K., a full 18% of all the red cars tested wound up being the target of a bird bathroom break. Blue cars were almost as targeted, at 14%. Rounding out the study, 11% of black cars, 7% of white cars, 3% of gray cars, and 1% of green cars were all fated to the carwash by the foul acts of wayward birds. Researchers performed their experiment both in the country and on the shore, but found little distinction between birds' pooping preferences based on location.

The British Trust for Orinthology had its own, skeptical take on the results. "We do know that birds can be attracted to certain colors during display but it [droppings on cars] is probably more to do with where you park," explained a spokesperson. "If you park where birds roost, then you are going to get more droppings on your vehicle."

[via Autoblog]

This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

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