I am not particularly keen on seeing fish catching birds—or, indeed, seeing any animals eaten by others—but of cours that’s the way Nature works. So here we see a 6½-minute BBC Earth video showing terns in the Indian Ocean becoming possible meals for giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis). It’s natural selection, Jake! But I’m still glad that the bird in the last segment escapes.
Fights: fishes vs. birds
February 4, 2025 • 12:50 pm
The species of tern in the clip isn’t identified but I believe they are Bridled Terns (Onychoprion anaethetus). Take that with a grain of salt, however, as I live in eastern Ontario, Canada, where tropical atolls are rather scarce and where this species of tern does not occur. The terns we do get (Common, Caspian, Black, Arctic) seem quite loath to rest on water or swim (unlike gulls), preferring to rest on the shore or posts or stones in the water. I think I’m beginning to see why … maybe the ancestral proto-tern was tropical …
Correction: I now think they are Sooty Terns (Onychoprion fuscatus), a related and similar species.
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water…