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📽 by @mpwhiten
Hornbills perched outside of a cave pick off bats as they exit
Every evening at dusk, millions of tiny bats pour out of Borneo’s Gomantong Caves in a thick, living river that stretches across the sky for over an hour. Local oriental pied hornbills have figured out that this is the easiest all-you-can-eat protein buffet they’ll ever find. Instead of trying to chase the bats in open flight (which they’re terrible at), the hornbills simply pick a good branch right in the flight path, perch quietly, and wait.
When a bat drifts close enough, they lunge and snatch it with their huge beaks like someone grabbing a snack off a conveyor belt. It’s not elegant, but it works; on a good night one hornbill can grab several bats without ever leaving its spot. The males tend to do better because they’re bigger and have longer bills, giving them extra reach.
While most people think of hornbills as fruit specialists, they’re happy to add insects, lizards, and even these high-speed bats to the menu whenever the opportunity shows up. This clever sit-and-wait trick is unique to Gomantong Caves because it’s the only place on Earth where millions of bats blast out every evening in such a tight, predictable, conveyor-belt-style stream, giving these hornbills the perfect opportunity to boost their protein intake daily
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