Spiderbloggers

Quite a few species of birds are insectivorous, and in such a diet spiders are likely to be a part. From time to time I have observed birds exploiting different aspects of spiders - their web material for nests as well as the spiders themselves for food.


Female Superb Blue Wren with web material for nest

Occasionally I have seen Red Wattlebirds working their way around the outside of our house swiftly grabbing spiders from their webs as they went.


Willie Wagtail nest

More interestingly, I have been watching groups of social birds - specifically White-winged Choughs and two species of Babbler - the Chestnut-crowned Babbler and the White-browed Babbler. The Choughs I have watched both here at home (southern Victoria) as well as at Gluepot reserve in the South Australian Mallee. Babblers I have watched at Hattah in northern Victoria and also at Gluepot.


Red Wattlebird

Both the Babblers and the Choughs seem to have quite similar behaviour - generally working their way around the bush in groups of 6-12 in search of food. More importantly, all three species seem to be able to locate spider burrows and exploit them for food. At home there is no doubt that after the Choughs have been through, there are less spiders left in the clusters of burrows we often see. Although I have spent much less time in the Mallee, the patterns of behaviour seem quite similar.

So, it seems that these birds are adept at locating and exploiting these burrows on a regular basis.
As it is not uncommon to see clusters of spider burrows in some areas, the ability to locate such sites guarantees the group a steady source of food - spiders! As to specific species, well I’ll leave that up to the experts.


White-winged Choughs

And what they are eating:



Wolf Spider

Nice pictures. Especially like the wattlebirds. I always see them lurking around in bushes or trees.