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Streaked Spiderhunter catching a spider

on 25th January 2009

So far, we have been posting spiderhunters taking nectar from various flowers. Nothing about the bird taking a spider.


Now, Ender has produced two images of the Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna), photographed in February 2008, in the act of picking a spider from its web. This is a classic study of a spiderhunter’s hunting a spider. After all, the bird is so-named because of its reputation in catching spiders – or is it?

R Subaraj, our bird specialist says: “The spiderhunters, I believe, were named following observations of them raiding spider webs. I believe all along that this was to collect the webbing for their nests rather than to catch spiders and that they are primarily nectarivores. It is good if these images actually prove that they also go for spiders!”

Images by Ender.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

3 Responses

  1. I am not sure if it’s been tested, but it seems quite a number of web-spinning spiders (especially those which spin orb webs) spin only at night and consume the silk in the morning before hiding during the day. Those webspinning spiders that are active in the day are the larger ones (e.g. Nephila and Argiope spp.) which are probably beyond the capability of smaller spider-eating birds, ‘armoured’ species like Gasteracantha spp., spiders with 3D webs (e.g. Cyrtophora tent spiders) that make it hard for predators to get access to the spider, or spiders with webs that contain much debris to camouflage the animal (e.g. Cyclosa spp.). Having an effective defense against bird (and possibly wasp) predation seems to be a factor in determining webspinning cycles, but it’d be interesting to find out if the link is tenable…

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