Painted Bunting /Un azulejo Passerina ciris atrapado en la tela de la arana Araneus bicentenarius

Orb-weaver spiders weave large webs that are capable of entrapping various species of birds. We report a case of a male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) caught in the web of a giant lichen orb-weaver (Araneus bicentenarius). Most cases of bird entrapment in spider webs involve spiders with larger w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 2019, Vol.131 (1), p.191
Main Authors: Queller, Philip S, Murphy, Troy G
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal traps
Buntings (Birds)
Observations
Ornithological research
Spider webs
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Summary:Orb-weaver spiders weave large webs that are capable of entrapping various species of birds. We report a case of a male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) caught in the web of a giant lichen orb-weaver (Araneus bicentenarius). Most cases of bird entrapment in spider webs involve spiders with larger webs (often Nephila sp.) and very small birds, usually hummingbirds. Our case is noteworthy because we report a relatively large bird caught in a relatively small web. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of A. bicentenarius extends beyond the tropics and subtropics, which is where most reported cases of bird entrapment occur. This observation suggests that even small orb-weaver webs may pose a threat to relatively large birds, and that this risk may extend well beyond the regions most commonly associated with entrapment. Received 17 July 2017. Accepted 30 September 2018.
ISSN:1559-4491