# I love it when spiders eat birds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135 "2008-10-22T22:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/21 "2008-10-23T03:38:38Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The North American spider that goes by that common name is the _[Argiope aurantia](http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Spiders_Savransky_Suhd_Brondstatter/Images_Edited/Argiope_aurantia_1_edited_resized.jpg)_. Confusingly, there’s another North American spider that’s in the same genus as the Australian one: [Nephila clavipes,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_clavipes) commonly referred to as the Banana Spider, or… the Golden Orb Weaver. They’re fairly common down here in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/22 "2008-10-23T06:02:40Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > So I didn’t have to. Thanks. > > I was just about to venture a click before I saw your post. You probably saved me from a nightmare. I appreciate it. Always happy to help a fellow arachnophobe ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/23 "2008-10-23T06:17:33Z")
Of course in Australia it is venomous. I think the grass in Australia is venomous. The fucking platypus is venomous. At least kangaroos are not poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Quack\_s\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Duck\_Quack\_s\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Quack_s_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/24 "2008-10-23T06:47:47Z")
I live here in Queensland and I’ve lived in peaceful co-existence with Golden Orb Weaver spiders for years. They’re not aggressive but their webs are really messy and, if you walk through a web unawares, you transfer the sticky mess to yourself. I have much more fear of the [Redback](http://www.australianfauna.com/redbackspider.php) spiders, a close relative to the Black Widow native to the US. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/25 "2008-10-23T07:08:39Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The fucking platypus is venomous. Ah yes, the Fucking Platypus, pornstar of the freshwater lagoon. Their young, called fucklings, are known for [having loud sex in picnic areas.](http://theurf.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/fucklings/) Adult Fucking Platypi can fly (only the fucklings are flightless) and, due to their reproductive exuberance, are very common in their native territories, to the point where hunting them for their pelts is extremely unprofitable (anyone who wants a Fucking jacket can shoot their own platypi and go fuck themselves), leading to the saying “I don’t give a flying fuck.” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/26 "2008-10-23T07:57:59Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Right…it’ll have to go. > > _nukes Australia_ That’s tough but fair. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/27 "2008-10-23T08:19:12Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Right…it’ll have to go. > > _nukes Australia_ You realise this will only result in giant, radioactive mutant spiders, right? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/28 "2008-10-23T09:10:17Z")
A recovered arachnophobe here - who overdid the cure. I am irrationally obsessed with spiders now. Just need to get my bias up front. 99.9999999% of the time, spiders get eaten by birds. Bird eating spiders don’t usually eat birds. The web of the extraordinarily docile _Nephila pilipes_ happens to be so strong it occasionally catches one. The spider will kill the bird because it is in its web and its struggles will wreck it. It may manage to digest some of it (they digest externally and then suck up the slurp). But birds are not their preferred or usual food. The species is now technically known as _Nephila pilipes_ - family Nephilidae. This is recent - lots of changes happening with spider classification. The American _Argiope spp._ is not the equivalent. They are the black and yellow spiders, or writing spiders, or often just Argiope (family Araneidae, with most of the orb weavers). In Australia, _Argiope_ are best known as St Andrew’s Cross Spiders. _Nephila clavipes_ (as mentioned above) is in the same genus as the bird eater. _Nephila_ are the golden orb weavers because of the colour of their webs and are generally bigger than Argiope. _Nephila_ are so docile they can be handled with ease and will not bite. But they are delicate - so don’t do it. You might hurt them. Gorgeous creatures! As for Australia’s deadly critters - we have deadly spiders and snakes in the back yard. The snakes require respect, but with care you are safe. Spiders - no hassle. No one has died of a spider bite in Australia in decades. My brother went camping in America and had the tent ripped open by bears. That would NEVER happen here. Give me spiders any day! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/29 "2008-10-23T09:33:16Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Right…it’ll have to go. > > _nukes Australia_ I’m going to hold you personally responsible when we discover the Radioactive Road-Train-Eating Funnelweb. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/30 "2008-10-23T09:37:28Z")
I remain unconvinced that it’s even possible for Australia to be any more mutated than it is now. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/31 "2008-10-23T11:10:37Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Wow. Just…I mean…can we teach it to eat toddlers? [“If we pull this off, we’ll eat like kings.”](http://community.research.microsoft.com/blogs/alpineinker/eat-like-kings.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/32 "2008-10-23T12:20:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Now I think I shall sit here and wait for the freak-outs. The climax of David George Gordon’s wonderful **Eat a Bug Cookbook** is a recipe for Giant Bird-Eating Spider > **[David George Gordon |](http://davidgeorgegordon.com/)** The spider he was preparing was a South American spider, which I gather is much bigger than the one shown in the link in the OP. The first step in rthe recipe is to take scissors and cut off the poison fangs. Unfortunately, Gordon couldn’t make his recipe – the Giant Spider he had ordered, shipped from South America on Dry Ice, had thawed on the way and spoiled. Maybe he’ll be making an offer to the Australians for one of theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/33 "2008-10-23T12:40:58Z")
I was at the Lamb’s Farm holiday craft fair a couple years ago. One of the vendors had a spider that was easily 8-10 inches across (framed nicely, I might add). It was just awesome in it’s terrifying spideriness. He wanted $100 for it. I was going to buy it for Kid Kalhoun, but I couldn’t afford it. And I couldn’t bear the thought of it sitting in my closet for weeks…coming back to life and plotting my demise. ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/34 "2008-10-23T18:52:29Z")
I just want to know the exact size of this damn thing. Because the bird it’s got a hold on looks like a damn chicken. Someone please reassure me that the bird is actually only about 1 inch from beak to tail…pretty pretty please…I’m so scared… ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/35 "2008-10-23T18:55:43Z")
And poot on you Derleth, I opened my thread before you and you STILL got all the good posts, cheater. I need to learn how to word my titles better I guess. _goes to sit in corner and pout, and shiver, and wet himself thinking about that damn spider_ ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/36 "2008-10-23T18:58:12Z")
> [@MovingTarget](#): > > I just want to know the exact size of this damn thing. Because the bird it’s got a hold on looks like a damn chicken. Someone please reassure me that the bird is actually only about 1 inch from beak to tail…pretty pretty please…I’m so scared… The bird is a [Chestnut breasted Mannikin](http://www.birdphotos.com.au/Chestnut%20breasted%20Mannikin/default.html), wich averages about 4 feet. Errr, sorry…make that 10cm. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/37 "2008-10-23T19:21:24Z")
How is it that the venom of these spiders is poisonous to birds and mammals? These spiders eveolved long ago, at a time when insects were their prey. Even now, I doubt that birds are frequently caught and eaten by spiders. Anyway, yeecch. I can identify with a bird or a mouse-they are closer to us than the alien-like spiders. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/38 "2008-10-23T19:25:10Z")
I’ve fed small lizards and fairly large mice to Goliath birdeaters before. When it comes to a spider eating a bird, all I can say is… “Cool!” ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/39 "2008-10-23T19:31:35Z")
Let the bird go, you _filth!_ Let him go! You will not touch him again! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135/40 "2008-10-23T19:38:22Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Ah yes, the Fucking Platypus, pornstar of the freshwater lagoon. Their young, called fucklings, are known for [having loud sex in picnic areas.](http://theurf.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/fucklings/) > > Adult Fucking Platypi can fly (only the fucklings are flightless) and, due to their reproductive exuberance, are very common in their native territories, to the point where hunting them for their pelts is extremely unprofitable (anyone who wants a Fucking jacket can shoot their own platypi and go fuck themselves), leading to the saying “I don’t give a flying fuck.” This post and that link are full of win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-it-when-spiders-eat-birds/469135.md?page=3)