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teach1st

(6,028 posts)
4. Just came on to share this
Tue Mar 26, 2024, 12:22 PM
Mar 2024

The Cute Bird Playing With a Golf Ball Is Actually Trying to Kill It
Slate

What is actually happening here is that the seriemas are trying to murder the balls. It’s possible that the serimeias, which are native to South America, mistook the balls for eggs and were merely trying to break them open, says Kenn Kaufmann, a birder and field editor for Audubon Magazine. But seremias can be more vicious than that. “A number of sources say that seriemas may kill active vertebrate prey (like reptiles or rodents) by slamming the creatures against the ground or throwing them at hard surfaces,” Kaufmann explained to me in an email. The seremias’ behavior is a step beyond most birds’ murder techniques: “Many bird species will bash their prey repeatedly against a perch or against the ground, but throwing seems more risky, since there’s a chance the animal will escape.”


https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/the-cute-birds-playing-with-golf-balls-are-actually-trying-to-kill-them.html

Recommendations

4 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

What type bird is this? Picaro Mar 2024 #1
It's a red-legged seriema, native to Brazil. Ocelot II Mar 2024 #2
Just came on to share this teach1st Mar 2024 #4
That figures. The seriema is the closest living relative of the extinct "terror birds." Ocelot II Mar 2024 #5
Gahh, glad the "terror birds" aren't still around! Wednesdays Mar 2024 #12
The term "terror bird" can apply to several groups that all post-date the KPg extinction. cab67 Mar 2024 #20
They're one of three bird groups that look like that. cab67 Mar 2024 #15
Fascinating...sounds like druidity33 Mar 2024 #17
It was for a thesis. cab67 Mar 2024 #18
I'm not sure I agree. cab67 Mar 2024 #21
Thanks Picaro Mar 2024 #8
aww barbtries Mar 2024 #13
Maybe it is, even if the purpose is to bust open or "kill" the golf ball. Ocelot II Mar 2024 #14
Is he loving it or pissed off that egg doesn't break? dem4decades Mar 2024 #3
Possibly trying to kill it. See #4. Ocelot II Mar 2024 #6
He's trying to chip in for birdie PJMcK Mar 2024 #16
Looks like he's trying to break it to me AKwannabe Mar 2024 #7
I'd like to think he learned how to play "ball" KS Toronado Mar 2024 #9
Can't break that egg open to get at the good stuff inside! LudwigPastorius Mar 2024 #10
Trying to open it. Seagulls did this at my Cape Cod home Grins Mar 2024 #11
He is a better golfer than you know who. Emile Mar 2024 #19
THANK YOU for making my day!!! Martin Eden Mar 2024 #22
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