Bird**** — or, more precisely, guano — was Nauru's original golden goose, and once made up a goodly chunk of the its geology. The tiny island — not much bigger than LA International Airport ...

For thousands of years birds had been defecating on Nauru, and deep piles of bird dung lay in the island’s center — “Topside,” as Naurans call it. Bird guano is rich in phosphorous ...

Nauru, population 14,000 ... As much as we wish more world leaders would be embarrassed by this kind of guano diplomacy, it isn’t a particularly uncommon practice. Russia, in fact, may have ...

Nauru, a raised coral atoll in southeastern Micronesia ... the island nation briefly boasted the world’s highest GDP per capita thanks mostly to guano (seafowl excrement), which had accumulated ...

This form of escapism, experts say, involves seeing places such as Nauru as a kind of malleable ... when the U.S. government passed the Guano Islands Act of 1865 — which allows any American ...

Drying and Subsequently Washing with Water. If the guano, as is generally the case with those varieties that are brought from Peru and Chili, is a smooth and uniform powder, weigh out two ounces ...

Though it authorized our nation's earliest imperialistic land grab outside our continent, the 1856 Guano Islands Act is little known today. The act stated that the United States could claim any island ...

Others are seeking something they produce-- their droppings. PIOTR NASRECKI: Bat guano is sought after across the world as an organic fertilizer. ANDIA WINSLOW: Harvesting the guano could provide ...