From glittering hummingbirds to majestic eagles, birds often appear to be graceful, beautiful creatures. Nevertheless, the avian realm also has its fair share of true scary stories that are perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit. So grab some apple cider, light a candle, and get ready to hear a couple of scary tales from the amazing world of birds!
Most songbirds seem sweet and harmless, but a look at shrikes tells us that this is not always the case! In fact, these birds are sometimes called "Butcherbirds," a name that alludes to their fascinating and vicious behavior. There are two species of shrikes in the USA - the Northern and Loggerhead Shrikes - and both share the carnivorous habit of hunting other birds, small mammals, insects, and reptiles.
These birds have twin sharp projections, called tomial teeth, on the upper cutting edge of their beak. They typically attack their victims with a paralyzing bite to the back of the neck, though they will employ other tactics as well. Once they have taken down their prey, shrikes will often impale it on thorns or barbed wire! This can be a method of storing food for later, and a well-stocked larder, as these caches are called, can help a male shrike impress a mate. Bouquet of flowers? No thank you says the shrike, a thornbush loaded with impaled animals is much more romantic!
A Loggerhead Shrike perches on barbed wire at a Florida airport. Note the impaled insect below the bird! Photo by Toribird.
On the Wolf and Darwin islands of the Galápagos archipelago dwells a bird that is bloodthirsty in an even more literal sense. The Vampire Ground-finch is a small songbird that typically feeds on insects and seeds, but will take to drinking the blood of seabirds when food is scarce. They do this by using their sharp beaks to peck at the backs of Nazca Boobies until they draw blood. And then they feed. Oddly enough, the boobies do not really seem to mind this.
The behavior is thought to have evolved from the vampire finches picking out and eating parasites from the feathers of boobies and other birds. Occasionally, this created open wounds, giving the vampire finches a taste for blood. Over time, they adapted to exploit this unusual food source. Part of this adaptation has meant the acquisition of unique gut bacteria that help these finches, and other carnivorous animals, digest the nutrients found in blood. Who would have thought a little finch could be so well suited to a vampiritic lifestyle?
Written by:
Toribird