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<\/p>\nArachnids for breakfast. Have you ever wondered what spiders taste like?<\/p>\n
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Two days ago I spent some time with Gray Catbirds in the mountains. Some were juveniles and some were adults but all of them were pretty spooky most of the time so they usually stayed hidden in cover. This one was the exception and gave me a pretty good look.<\/p>\n
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Some of them were still feeding youngsters, either in the nest or recently fledged. This was a favorite staging perch on their way to deliver prey after they’d captured it but I could barely see the multiple birds that landed here through all the vegetation.<\/p>\n
Yes, it was frustrating, especially because dramatic-looking spiders were their preferred prey.<\/p>\n
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This one successfully hunted spiders near an old piece of junk (irrigation pipe?, plant pot?) in the mud of the stream bed. I like the shadow of the bird and spider on the left.<\/p>\n
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Looks delish, don’t you think?<\/p>\n
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This is the same bird after it captured an additional prey item in the mud of what’s left of the stream in this drought.<\/p>\n
Adult catbirds eat fruit, insects and spiders. Based on my observations at this location they were eating a lot of berries earlier this summer but now that they’re feeding youngsters they’ve switched over to more insects and spiders in order to provide protein for their growing offspring. They’re known to feed very little fruit (only about 5%) to their chicks.<\/p>\n
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As an observer I often wonder what various food items of birds taste like, spiders included, so I did a little research. In places like Cambodia fried spiders are a regional snack that’s popular with both locals and tourists and their taste has been described as follows:<\/p>\n
“Bland, “rather like a cross between chicken and cod”, with a contrast in texture from a crispy exterior to a soft center. The legs contain little flesh, while the head and body have “a delicate white meat inside”.<\/em><\/p>\n Thanks but no thanks. I’ll get my white meat from chicken.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arachnids for breakfast. Have you ever wondered what spiders taste like?<\/p>\n