The Hooded Pitohui – a Poisonous Bird

By Minnesotastan in Animals & Pets on Mar 28, 2010 at 3:39 pm

Jack Dumbacher, an ornithologist at the California Academy of Science, describes the discovery of and studies of a neurotoxin produced by this bird from New Guinea. The batrachotoxin that the bird produces is a sodium-channel blocker that is chemically identical to the neurotoxin used by poison dart frogs, and it is potentially lethal in higher doses. One assumes that this evolved as a deterrent to predation, so it’s interesting that like monarchs and other toxic butterflies, this bird exhibits a strikingly bright warning coloration.

Tags: California Academy of Science, New Guinea, Poison

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video game dork
Mar 28th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
yay, flying poisoners!
Dean Venture
Mar 28th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I didn’t know the Monarch was poisonous… !?!
otterly
Mar 28th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
This is terrifying.
Klangfarbe
Mar 29th, 2010 at 2:38 am
I bet it evolved from the dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park.
Chance
Mar 29th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
I hate to be pedantic here, but isn’t it incorrect to call this bird poisonous? This is a case of a toxin being placed into a wound, which would make it a venom, right?
Minnesotastan
Mar 30th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Chance, I don’t mind pedantry (which is quite common in comment threads here). In this case, the man giving the presentation said he was scratched by the bird, but he didn’t experience toxicity at the wound site – it was not after he put his finger in his mouth (to lick the wound) and his mouth began to tingle and burn; another researcher experienced the same phenomenon.

Since the adverse effects occurred after the toxin entered the mouth, I would define it as a poison. And the toxin is identical to the one in poison dart frogs, which are clearly poisonous.
Bryce Phillips
Jan 25th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Very interesting topic. It seems that the bird does not create the poison, but rather has a physiology that can survive eating poisonous beetles. In doing so it’s body has become poisonous inside and out. Given it’s bright coloration, most notably the eyes, this is likely no accident, but rather a welcomed, or evolved side effect.

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