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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 There are enough videos on the internet about a giant python eating a human or a deer, but
00:05 there isn't enough footage of these slithering suckers being beaten up by their predators.
00:10 These killer queens are known as the "Secretary Birds."
00:13 That's not all, we'll even show you hawks that are practically Satan in disguise and
00:17 just want to watch the world burn, literally!
00:21 Before we get into it, go smash the like and subscribe button.
00:24 Let's go!
00:25 When a bird is as strong and big as a falcon and hawk, it makes sense for them to use their
00:29 muscles to beat their prey, and then finally dine on them.
00:33 However, when a bird is just a few inches big, they need to get creative with their
00:37 techniques.
00:38 That's where the Shrike comes in.
00:40 This bird might look like a cute finch, but it's actually a songbird with a hooked bill
00:44 like a falcon.
00:46 These tiny birds don't like to face their prey head on, in fact they attack them from
00:50 behind by biting them at the base of the skull.
00:53 Pretty gruesome, right?
00:54 Well, that's not all.
00:56 They impale their prey's body on a spiky branch as if it's a toothpick.
01:01 This is to make sure the prey is really dead, and since birds don't use cutlery, they
01:06 use branches as a way of holding their carcasses steady.
01:09 Sometimes their culinary horror show features an alive prey.
01:13 Moreover, their table manners don't end there.
01:16 Shrikes can use barbed wires, thorns, or any sort of spikes as their toothpick and leave
01:21 the dead body there for days.
01:24 Gross!
01:26 Loons are simple aquatic birds that can be found in many parts of North America and Eurasia.
01:31 But that's not the point.
01:33 These animals only eat fish, crayfish, frogs, leeches, and sometimes even snails.
01:38 However, there was one rare case where a loon managed to kill off a fully capable eagle.
01:45 These two birds had a huge clash, and surprisingly, only the loon survived, despite the fact that
01:50 eagles are born with the full cavalry to take out any bird.
01:54 The mother loon took down the eagle by stabbing it in the heart with her beak.
01:58 Usually, birds don't show this much precision when they're planning an attack.
02:02 However, this time the stakes were much higher.
02:05 It was the loon's chicks!
02:07 A pathologist examined the chicks and the dead eagle and found that the baby had eagle
02:11 talon marks.
02:13 This told them that the feisty eagle was obviously after the loon's chicks.
02:17 This isn't a regular plan of attack for loons, but it's sure an impressive one.
02:23 Some species, including us, have a very hard time breaking nuts.
02:26 Have you ever tried to eat a walnut?
02:29 Yep, just imagine the struggle!
02:31 However, birds are getting smarter by the minute, and the bearded vulture has decided
02:35 to take full advantage of this newfound intelligence.
02:39 A field biologist realized that a bird of this species would keep soaring with a fully
02:44 spread wings while dropping its meal to the ground.
02:47 At first, what he saw was a full carcass of a goat that the bird would just repeatedly
02:51 smash to the ground.
02:53 When the sets of bones had become loose enough, the bird would feed the shattered bone pieces
02:57 to its nestlings.
02:59 These vultures feed exclusively only on bones.
03:02 These birds would drop turtles with their shells feet above the ground and let them
03:06 crack open like a walnut.
03:09 Their diet is weirdly only relying on bones, more specifically smash bones.
03:14 No wonder they've mastered the art of bone smashing!
03:17 When it comes to falcons, they're supposed to be these sleeked, winged, and super speedy
03:22 birds.
03:23 But the crested Caracara birds are the black sheep of the family.
03:26 They might have some similarities to their cousins, but other than that, their behavior
03:30 is super odd.
03:31 First of all, they hunt a lot on their feet despite their extremely agile wings.
03:37 Raptors don't usually use their feet for walking too much.
03:40 However, these birds have legs so long that they could be models.
03:44 Even their claws are flat to grip the ground better.
03:47 Moreover, they have super stalker skills, maybe even better than the character Joe Goldberg
03:52 from You.
03:53 The Caracara birds have lurked around these caiman eggs until they hatched.
03:57 They could have taken hours or even days, but they stood still in one spot.
04:02 However, when they did hatch, they were able to go around foraging for baby reptiles, a
04:07 favorite of theirs.
04:08 If the falcon hadn't got such a fresh meal here, it would have flown away and stolen
04:12 some other vulture's food.
04:14 Other than magpies, their species is known to steal food from vultures and any other
04:18 birds when they're given a chance.
04:21 So if you ever see a silverfish blue-tipped beak lurking around you, it's time to change
04:25 locations.
04:27 The phrase "birds of a feather stick together" is especially accurate for Harris hawks.
04:33 It doesn't matter who Harris was because these hawks are closer than ever.
04:38 These hawks don't know much about bachelor life.
04:40 In fact, they all cling together when it's time to hunt.
04:43 It's not like these birds of prey are the only ones that know how to team up.
04:47 The difference is they do it so well that you can almost compare it to the strength
04:51 of a pack of wolves.
04:54 An avian ecologist said that they have the most sophisticated cooperation that's been
04:58 documented to date.
04:59 First, these hawks gather at daybreak on a single branch cactus or wherever their meeting
05:04 place is.
05:06 When they split up in about two groups, one group flies 200 meters and scans for prey.
05:12 Then the second group follows them, scanning the same area.
05:15 They repeat this leapfrog system until one team spots their prey and signals to the other
05:21 group.
05:22 Then they converge to attack the prey.
05:24 All of the hawks position themselves in such a way that if one of the hawks misses the
05:28 prey, the other can swoop right in and trap the animal right there.
05:33 If the animal isn't hiding, one or two hawks will push it out of the spot, leaving the
05:38 prey in a tighter spot than it already was.
05:42 Imagine if we had this much cooperation in group projects!
05:46 Humans aren't the best at realizing tricks and fraud.
05:49 In fact, we fall for the simplest tricks no matter how gullible we are.
05:53 But it's not just a mammal thing.
05:55 It's also quite relevant in birds.
05:58 Visual or optical illusions are not what our winged friends excel at.
06:02 It's audible trickery that's their expertise.
06:05 An African bird called the fork-tailed drongos has become such good friends with evolution
06:11 that it gave the birds the gift of mimicry.
06:20 These birds can copy the calls of other species, such as other birds and even meerkats.
06:26 What they do is spot a place where there's enough food for them to hunt on and then pretend
06:30 to warn everyone in their own language.
06:33 When all the mammals evacuate after the fake call, they swoop in and dine on the unattended
06:38 food.
06:39 If you cry wolf enough times, people catch on.
06:42 So why doesn't this concept apply here?
06:45 Well, scientists spent around 800 hours in the field and found out that some drongos
06:50 can produce 60 alarm calls.
06:59 About 6 of them are actual alarm calls that drongos use themselves when a real predator
07:04 is present.
07:05 Sometimes these birds will take all day to mimic the alarm calls of a certain species.
07:10 Some calls will actually be true and some will be false.
07:13 This is the way the target species will start to trust them and eventually fall into their
07:18 trap.
07:19 Wow, there should be a movie on this!
07:22 Green herons don't like to flaunt their special weaponry, which in this case happens
07:26 to be their neck.
07:28 When it's at rest, it barely looks like a neck at all.
07:31 But when it's in use, it can extend faster and longer than a giraffe's neck.
07:35 First, three herons use a simple, foolproof trick of curiosity to coerce the fish right
07:41 into their mouths.
07:42 The bird sets itself upon a nearby branch.
07:44 Then, it looks for a small twig, bug, or even a feather to drop into the water.
07:50 Once it makes a splash in the water, the fish are interested to see what it is.
07:55 And as soon as they do, the green heron extends its spring-like neck and uses its needle-sharp
08:00 beak to eat something delicious.
08:03 Other than having a long neck, their longer-than-usual beak also adds in chomping on a fish.
08:08 How impressive is that?
08:12 When birds use water or sticks to kill their prey, it's understandable.
08:16 These are nature's gifts that they're utilizing in a way that doesn't cause them damage but
08:20 still brings them food.
08:22 However, black kites are quite adapted to the lifestyle of Australians, which includes
08:27 a lot of fires.
08:30 Some indigenous people call these black hawks "fire hawks" because they've been known
08:34 to control a fire by arraying burning sticks to new locations.
08:38 What we're telling you is that these birds use fires to help find food.
08:42 Among the blazing frenzy, every insect, bird, and lizard is trying to flee the location,
08:48 right?
08:49 But these menacing birds take advantage of this chaos to fill their stomachs.
08:53 They can be seen perching and soaring around the fire fronts to pick out anything that
08:58 even remotely looks edible.
09:00 Local people have even seen these evil hawks pick up completely blazing sticks in their
09:04 claws and drop it in a fresh patch of grass, and then wait for the fire to come alive and
09:10 kill out all the rodents and reptiles.
09:12 Satan, is that you?
09:16 We're all aware of regular old parrots – macaw, grey, or even the tiny ones.
09:22 They're practically the most harmless things to exist.
09:25 But have you ever seen the small kia parrots?
09:27 These almost flightless birds are all chubby because they hide their evil inside.
09:33 By looks, they don't even hint at being anything but adorable.
09:36 However, in the winters when there isn't enough food, these bloodthirsty birds turn
09:41 to a vicious form of hunting.
09:43 Many shepherds call these animals sheep killers.
09:46 What they do is couple up and fly to a place with live sheep.
09:49 Then they choose a big fat juicy one with shin skin only to dig their claws into them
09:53 and bite their flesh while they buy away their lives.
09:56 It's a very hideous sight, and even though sometimes the kia birds don't succeed, they
10:01 do not give up.
10:03 They stick to the sheep like leeches and bite at them until they make enough of a wound
10:07 to settle in and empty them inside out.
10:10 Who knew sweet little parrots could be so gory?
10:13 When the sheep manages to run away, their wounds are too deep and they usually die there.
10:18 The laughing gulls may sound like a comedian, thanks to their names, but they're nothing
10:23 but a menace to our society.
10:31 These birds are quite lazy and don't put so much effort into their hunting skills like
10:35 all the other birds.
10:36 They simply steal other birds' food.
10:39 Usually the victim of the theft is usually a peer of the same species.
10:43 Sometimes smaller and more vulnerable species can be the victims.
10:47 But they have a special hatred for brown pelicans who spend quite a good amount of time picking
10:51 out fish from the water.
10:53 As soon as they surface and empty the water from their bills, the gull stealthily flies
10:57 in and grabs whatever they can from the fresh stash.
11:00 Some gulls go as far as staking from the dangerous goons of the avian kingdom, the raptors.
11:06 Despite all of this, the weirdest part is that many species of gulls have been seen
11:10 to steal homo sapiens.
11:12 That's us!
11:16 Some gulls don't even bother reading if the food they steal is organic or not.
11:20 They simply fly into a supermarket and steal a sandwich.
11:24 Looks like they're copying us way too much!
11:27 Parrots don't get the credit that they deserve many times.
11:30 When one of them was found using bread as bait, no one thought of it much until it was
11:34 actually examined by an expert.
11:36 These creatures have been spending some time with us and probably noticed that we use things
11:40 like maggots or worms to tempt fish on the hooks.
11:44 And that's what they did.
11:45 All across the planet, birds have probably seen that humans feed ducks and swans bread.
11:50 That's where the heron got its bread from, too.
11:53 So why didn't it just eat the bread?
11:55 Well, these birds are smart enough to know that the bread isn't as nutritious as the
11:59 fish they usually eat.
12:01 Fish provides a better protein source and is an overall better meal than regular carbohydrates.
12:06 That way, this smart heron was willing to exchange a silly piece of bread with some
12:10 fish.
12:11 Sometimes, they even use small insects or even spiders to bait fish.
12:15 The secretary bird, which stands over 4 feet tall and has legs for days, is a better fit
12:21 to be a model, but it chose a much more hardcore job.
12:25 These creatures are actually quite unique since there are no other birds of prey that
12:28 are related to them, and they have a very diverse diet.
12:32 They'll eat anything they can kick down such as small mammals, invertebrates, and
12:37 nasty little reptiles like snakes.
12:39 When a scientist measured the kick of one of these birds, it was over 195 newtons.
12:45 And since these birds do it from a standing stance, it's even more powerful since all
12:49 their body weight is being put on the prey.
12:52 That's not all.
12:53 The kick isn't just incredibly strong, but also very fast.
12:57 It takes them about one-tenth of the time it takes to blink an eye to land a fatal blow.
13:02 Usually this kick is right on the snake's skull.
13:04 Any damage to the snake's skull and the secretary bird's meal is final.
13:09 Who knew such a pretty-looking bird could do so much damage?
13:14 Alright comment below what you think is the most dangerous.
13:16 Don't forget to like the video, subscribe to Forever Green, and we'll see you in the
13:20 next one.
13:21 [Music]
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