To bridge this knowledge gap, the present study was designed to address microscopic anthropogenic particle contamination in terrestrial birds from Shanghai, China. According to a common definition of microplastic (Thompson et al., 2004), particles less than 5 mm were defined as microscopic anthropogenic particles. This is the first specialized research on microscopic anthropogenic litter ingestion by terrestrial birds. We wanted to explore three questions: 1) can microscopic anthropogenic plastic be ingested by terrestrial birds? 2) What is the pollution level? 3) What are the characteristics of ingested particles (i.e., type, color and size)?