Aussies 'shudder' at kookaburra's spectacular snack
Huntsman spiders aren't the most fearsome animals preyed on by kookaburras.
Australia is home to many native animals that incite wonder and fear, with kookaburras and huntsman spiders easily on either end of the spectrum. Yet many residents were shocked to learn this week that not only do the two interact, one is known to eat the other.
In an image captured in Brunswick Heads along the NSW coastline, a kookaburra was spotted happily devouring a huntsman spider, with the arachnid's eight long legs clearly visible as it is thrown into the air by the bird before being swallowed.
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'Brutal' kookaburra incites amazement online
The "phenomenal" image was shared online and it quickly inspired equal measures of amazement and discomfort from Aussies who couldn't believe the bird with the well-known laugh would choose such fearsome prey.
"Ugh imagine eating a spider," one person wrote, while another said she "shuddered" at the prospect.
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A man said he had witnessed a similar interaction between the two native animals, adding he had "popped him [a huntsman spider] outside and then watched a kookaburra swoop down and eat him."
However, kookaburra's have created a "brutal" reputation for themselves and are actually much tougher than they look, with the birds regularly choosing to eat animals many people do their best to avoid.
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Kookaburras 'kill quickly', expert explains
A kookaburra's ability to kill their prey in a quick manner makes them successful predators, with the birds even tackling some of the country's most venomous snakes.
"Their beaks are really strong and in this instance the bird has got the prey in its beaks and its thrashing it around ... they whack it from side to side. They kill their prey really quickly," Professor of Wildlife Conservation, Sarah Legge, from Charles Darwin University told Yahoo News Australia.
The huntsman spider is a relatively low-risk snack for the kookaburra, with Aussies' shocked reaction to the image comparatively greater than the danger itself.
"Any spider bite would be ineffective on the kookaburra's beak, so snakes are more high-risk because if the birds don't swoop down from behind the head or don't immobilise it quickly enough, there's potential the bird could get bitten," Professor Legge said.
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