You know how they say there’s a world out there where the strongest wins. The brown tree snake pictured would like it to be a world where the snake eats the bird, but damn, the bird is just too big. But that didn’t stop the snake from trying.
In fact, a study published this summer found that brown tree snakes frequently kill oversized birds, even though they can’t actually eat the birds they killed. It’s a classic case of eyes bigger than the stomach – or in this case, eyes bigger than the jaw can physically open.
Research suggests that brown tree snakes (Boiga regularis (Irregular Boiga tree)have guts. They are fearsome predators on Guam, having wiped out several species of birds on the island. Additionally, these snakes prey on birds that are too large for them to physically swallow. While we admire this bravery, there are a few problems with this scenario.
Firstly, brown tree snakes are an invasive species on Guam. They shouldn’t actually be there. Are However, they compete with native species for food and other resources. If left unchecked, invasive species can destroy an ecosystem, often because they have no natural enemies.
A more specific problem with Guam’s brown tree snakes is that the small ones are constantly killing birds that are too big to swallow. This is not how the food chain should work.
“Our study shows that B. irregularis “They regularly hunt prey that is too large to be successfully consumed, resulting in the death of the prey but posing little risk to the predator,” say the researchers. “(…) cases of predation that do not result in consumption can have significant impacts on prey populations.”
In fact, researchers found that brown tree snakes only successfully consumed 52% of the birds they killed, which may be a bit much for humans.
