For the most part, birds are majestic creatures. They wake us up with their songs, stun us with their beauty, and inspire us to reach for the sky.
It’s easy to think of them as gentle or even fragile, but in many places around the world, there are some birds that are just downright dangerous.
Speed, flight, intelligence and talons all add up to a host of birds who are seriously deadly predators. So, with that in mind, we countdown 15 horrifying and deadliest birds on the planet.
Pitohui For centuries, people in Papua New Guinea have known to stay away from this bird.
This is the pitohui, and though it looks pretty and sings an attractive song, this bird holds a dark secret. The pitohui is the only poisonous bird on the planet.
The bird’s skin and feathers contain dangerous levels of neurotoxic alkaloids, similar to those produced by the poison dart frog.
The poison is believed to be a defense against parasites or predators, and that the pitohui’s bright coloration is meant to warn predators of this.
The discovery of the poison in the bird was made back in 1989 when ornithologist Jack Debaucher caught one of these birds in a net in New Guinea.
When he inadvertently touched his lips after handling the bird, Jack noted that his tongue and lips went numb.
This spurred a chemical investigation, which revealed the presence of batrachotoxin in the bird’s feathers. How did it get there?
Recent investigations suggest that the birds, do not synthesize the poison. They get it from their food supply. Specifically, from a species of beetle, they dine on. Melyrid beetles seem to be the source of the toxin.
There are several species of pitohui, with the most poisonous one being the “Hooded Pitohui.” Feeding just a few milligrams of its skin to a mouse will kill it in a few minutes.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you are wandering through the forests of New Guinea, and you come upon a beautiful red and black pitohui bird, just enjoy its vocal talents from a distance.
Do not attempt to handle it. This bird is better off in the bush than in the hand
Southern Giant Petrel When you think about dangerous sea creatures, the first thing to mind isn’t usually seabirds, right? Well, think again.
This is the southern giant petrel: an aggressive airborne predator that feeds on both carrion and live prey.
They can weigh over 12 pounds, sport a wingspan of over six feet, and are able to maintain a flight speed of 20 meters per second.
The petrel mercilessly hunts other seabirds, such as penguin chicks and even injured adult penguins. Petrels have also been observed drowning Australasian Gannets, albatrosses, and other large birds by holding them underwater.
They also are occasionally accidentally drowned when they eat baited hooks in hook and line fisheries. There is apparently segregation of feeding grounds between males and females, and males have been observed chasing females from scavenged carcasses of seals and other animals.
Sadly, it has no natural predators, although it can take some damage if it messes with a nest of skuas. Skuaaaa!!! As in all seabirds, southern giant petrels nest on land and feed at sea.
They nest in groups, but in most places, they do not form the extremely dense colonies characteristic of several other species of seabird.
This species prefers to nest on the ground rather than in trees or other vegetation and generally does not successfully mate until reaching an age of at least 10 years old.
Parents incubate the egg and care for the juvenile together, an investment approaching 200 days before the juvenile is ready to feed on its own.
