‘To eat like a bird’ means to eat very little. The phrase suggests that ‘bird-sized portions’ are almost insubstantial. In reality, however, birds’ diets and feeding habits are remarkably complex.1 Here is a particularly interesting fact related to this subject.
Birds, insects and snakes
Birds eat wasps and bees, each of which can carry enough venom to kill several birds.2,3 How, then, does this part of the food chain function?
The Meropidae bird family, commonly known as bee eaters, is renowned for its bee-hunting. These birds are able to neutralise the venom before consuming their prey. A bee eater catches a bee mid-flight and manoeuvres it so that the sting protrudes beyond the beak. It then repeatedly strikes the sting against a hard surface, forcing the venom to drain. Only once this process is complete does the bee eater swallow the insect, without suffering any harm.2
Similar habits are seen in butcherbirds. They are omnivorous and feed on invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, millipedes, spiders, and scorpions, as well as certain lizards, frogs, mice, and other small animals, along with some plant matter. They also eat insects, including ants, beetles, moths, caterpillars, and other larvae, as well as wasps and bees. Before swallowing a wasp or bee, the bird breaks off its sting.3
The greater roadrunner can safely eat a rattlesnake, avoiding its venomous fangs. It grabs the snake by the head and smashes its skull, then consumes it without harm.4
Conclusion
Could a bird have developed the specific traits and habits needed to eat in this way by chance?
Catching a wasp or bee and removing its sting, or draining venom before swallowing it, does not seem like something that could be learned through trial and error. In the same way, pecking at a rattlesnake near its venomous fangs is not a sensible method of getting food.
Someone must have designed birds and programmed them in such a way that they were equipped from the start with the skills needed to safely catch and consume venomous creatures. Otherwise, they would have disappeared from the world long ago.
By the way, we recommend reading the articles:
- What Did Moths Initially Eat?
- Natural Selection – Truth or Fiction?
- How Did Life Begin?
- Sauropods from the Middle Ages – A Fairy Tale or Reality?
- Fish Intelligence: A Match for Apes?
Footnotes
- Sherwin, F., 2012. Christmas Island Zoology. Acts & Facts, 41(12), p. 16; Sherwin, F., 2020. Hummingbirds by Design. Acts & Facts, 49(11), pp. 17–19; Johnson, J. J. S., 2021. Eating Bugs Isn’t Always So Simple. Acts & Facts, 50(10), p. 20.
- Forshaw, J. (ed.), 1991. Bee-eaters. In: Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Smithmark, pp. 144–145.
- Adams, A., 2016. Gymnorhina tibicen Australian Magpie. Museums Victoria Collections. Available at: https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au (no date accessed).
- National Geographic, n.d. Snake vs. Roadrunner Face-off . Available at: https://youtu.be/cbhf-RfaY8Q.
Adapted from: J. D. Johnson, J. S. James, Eating like a bird, Acts & Facts, Institute for Creation Research, January-February 2023, p. 20.
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