It’s a dog-eat-dog world out in the animal kingdom, or rather, a bird-eat bird world.
You may not be able to imagine a small bird like a hummingbird attacking, killing, and eating another bird but certain birds do eat other birds. This article looks into why this happens:
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Why do birds eat other birds?
The animal world is a cutthroat place, animals will do almost anything to survive and help their offspring survive too.
Many birds survive by eating other birds. Some will even go as far as eating other members of their kingdom or other members of their species, here is why:
They are birds of prey:
Certain birds have evolved to eat other birds, animals that eat animals are called carnivorous, birds that eat other animals are called birds of prey, and animals that are specialized to eat birds are called avivores.
Larger birds of prey, like raptors, will eat adult birds who are smaller than them, and birds of their size who can’t defend themselves too well.
A raptor may even raid another raptor’s nest if it is looking for a meal, that is, if the parent raptor is not there to protect the babies. Baby raptors will not be able to defend themselves from adult attackers, this makes them an easy target for adult raptors
A raptor will avoid trying to attack another adult raptor, these two birds will likely be equal in strength and the other raptor will be able to defend itself.
The adult raptors may even eat raptor eggs if there are any unattended eggs in the nest.
Other birds that eat birds include corvids, corvids are birds of the crow family. These birds are known to eat roadrunners, gulls, and skuas.
The type of birds that birds of prey eat is dependent on their region.
To clean up:
As much as certain birds hunt and kill live birds for food, certain types of birds will eat other birds because they are carrion-eating birds. Birds that do this are called scavenger birds.
The types of birds that eat dead animals, birds included, are helpful because they keep spaces clean. They do not get sick from eating decaying biomass like dead animals, in fact, their bodies have evolved to be able to eat these foods.
Scavenger birds digest birds, and other animals, and then recycle the food back into the ecosystem through their poop which will now be full of nutrients.
Vultures are an example of a scavenger bird. Vultures eat dead birds, but they will hunt and kill small live birds as well
Cannibalism
Some bird species will cannibalize other birds of their same species even when bird meat is not a staple in their diet. One bird that does this is the chicken.
When chickens are stressed, because they’re overcrowded, because they are suffering under excessive heat, because they are under too much light, or because they are hungry as a result of a food or water shortage, they will start to cannibalize each other.
A stressed chicken will start to pull the comb, feathers, vent, and skin of another chicken. The injured bird will develop an open wound and the rest of the chickens in the flock will start pecking at it.
Other chickens start to peck because they are attracted to the color red on the wound.
Conclusion
In conclusion, birds eat other birds, this is a common occurrence in nature.
Birds eat other birds because their diets have evolved to do this, these birds are prey birds. Scavagers, like vultures, eat dead birds and some birds will cannibalize each other when they are stressed.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How To Stop Pigeons From Laying Eggs, How To Scare Pigeons With Sound, Signs Your Bird Is Going To Lay An Egg, Why Are Pigeon Nests So Bad?, How To Keep Big Birds Away From Feeders?