There are many poisonous animals in nature, including poisonous snakes, spiders, jellyfish , some fish, etc. If you observe carefully, you will find that these poisonous animals are nothing more than running on the ground and swimming in the water. It seems that it is rare to hear that they fly in the sky? Now let’s talk about a poisonous animal that can fly in the sky. It is the Wood Flycatcher (jú wēng). It is one of the few poisonous birds in the world. How poisonous is the Wood Flycatcher?
I accidentally discovered
The Wood Flycatcher is a group of endemic birds in New Guinea, belonging to the family Whistling Flycatcher. According to the different colors of their feathers, , mainly divided into six species, namely: variable forest flycatcher, black-headed forest flycatcher, white-bellied forest buzzard flycatcher, crown forest buzzard flycatcher and black forest buzzard flycatcher. Among these six species of forest buzzard flycatcher, black-headed forest buzzard flycatcher is the first bird discovered by humans to contain highly toxic substances on its body surface.
The discovery process of the Black-headed Wood Flycatcher was very dramatic. In 1992, American ornithologist Jack Dumbacher and his scientific team came to New Guinea, where they captured several Black-headed Wood Flycatchers.
Because no one has seen this kind of bird before, people don't know much about it. During the process of catching the bird, Dumbacher's hand was accidentally scratched by the bird. It is normal for them to be scratched during field scientific investigation of animals, not to mention that this is just an unknown bird.
Dumbacher didn't take this seriously at first. He instinctively put his fingers in his mouth to relieve the pain. Just then something strange happened. He felt that his tongue and lips began to become numb, and his entire mouth felt like it was burning, and the pain lasted for several hours.
After analysis, the scientific research team suspected that it was caused by this bird. So Dumbacher once again grabbed a wood flycatcher feather and put it in his mouth. The same numb feeling came over him again. He was sure that the bird must be poisonous.
Waste Bird
In fact, locals have long discovered that this bird is inedible because it tastes very bitter, so the locals also gave the forest flycatcher a very vivid name "Bitter Bird". Perhaps because they felt that the bitter bird was not enough to express their resentment, the locals gave it the nickname "Trash Bird".
As mentioned earlier, when humans come into contact with a wood flycatcher, the mouth and tongue will be numb. So, what kind of toxin is in the body of the black-headed wood flycatcher?
It has been identified that the toxins contained in the body of the Black-headed Wood Flycatcher are neurotoxic alkaloids of the bufoxin family, which are mainly concentrated in the skin and feathers of the Wood Flycatcher. This toxin is similar to the toxin found in dart frogs. For scientific verification, scientists injected the toxins from the black-headed woodland flycatcher into the bodies of white mice. As a result, the white mice only twitched a few times and died. After humans are poisoned, symptoms such as severe vomiting and cardiac arrhythmia may occur, and even death can occur within a few hours.
It is estimated that the skin and feathers of a Black-headed Wood Flycatcher contain about 20 micrograms of toxins. If all the toxins in other parts of their bodies are added up, these toxins are enough to kill 800 mice. This shows how violent their toxicity is!
People are afraid of being famous, and pigs are afraid of getting strong.
Generally speaking, toxins in animals are synthesized by the body as secondary metabolites, or are produced by ingesting other organisms, and the source of toxins in the black-headed forest flycatcher belongs to the latter.
Research suggests that the toxins in the black-capped woodland flycatchers may be caused by the beetles and plants they eat. The function of these toxins is to avoid parasite infestation, and of course to protect themselves from predators or humans. It can be seen from the nickname "waste bird" given to them by the local people that the purpose of the Black-headed Wood Flycatcher has been achieved!
We say that "people are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being strong." The black-headed wood flycatcher has broken out into a new world by relying on its highly toxic poison. Most animals dare not provoke them. So those wood hawks that belong to the same genus as the black-headed wood flycatcher and only have a small amount of venom began to play tricks. They began to secretly imitate the black-headed wood buzzard flycatcher, deceiving the enemy with their appearance, and making the natural enemies confused.
Coincidentally, there is another poisonous bird living on the island of New Guinea, that is the blue-crested babbler.They are smaller, and like the black-capped woodbird, the blue-capped babbler gets its toxin from the beetles they eat. They coat their feathers with toxins to defend themselves against enemies, which can be fatal if accidentally contaminated.
is written at the end
. In ancient my country, there was an idiom "drinking poison to quench thirst". This idiom means drinking poisonous wine to quench thirst. It is a metaphor for using extremely harmful methods to solve immediate difficulties, regardless of the serious consequences. The "鸩" in the idiom is a poisonous bird, and the wine soaked in its feathers is highly toxic and can poison people to death. So, could the "鸩" in the idiom be the forest flycatcher?
