Birds caught in spider webs in Asia

A recent global review of birds caught in spider webs reported only three Asian cases. Given this surprisingly low number, I made a concerted effort to obtain additional Asian cases from the literature, the internet, and field workers. I present a total of 56 Asian cases which pertain to 33 bird spe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Avian research 2016-10, Vol.7 (1), Article 16
Main Author: Walther, Bruno A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bird trapping
Ornithological research
Predation (Biology)
Spider webs
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Summary:A recent global review of birds caught in spider webs reported only three Asian cases. Given this surprisingly low number, I made a concerted effort to obtain additional Asian cases from the literature, the internet, and field workers. I present a total of 56 Asian cases which pertain to 33 bird species. As in the global dataset, mostly small bird species were caught in spider webs, with a mean body mass of 17.5 g and a mean wing chord length of 73.1 mm. Consequently, birds with a body mass >30 g were very rarely caught. This Asian review corroborates the global review that smaller birds are more likely to be caught and that Nephila spiders are most likely to be the predators. Continuous monitoring of spider webs is recommended to ascertain the frequency of these events. Keywords: Spider, Predator-prey relationships, Asia
ISSN:2053-7166
2053-7166
DOI:10.1186/s40657-016-0051-4