Friday, September 19, 2014

Creature Feature #335: Ifrita


The small, insectivorous Ifrita in widespread across the rainforests of New Guinea. He is one of the few birds known to be poisonous, contact with his feathers and skin causes numbness and tingling and acts as a deterrent against predators such as snakes. This toxin is a batrachotoxin acquired through his diet of melyrid beetles. He forages for these beetles, and other insect prey, by scurrying up and down the trunks and branches of trees and probing in crevices with his bill.

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