Stork-billed Kingfisher caught a puffer fish

Lim Sheau Torng sent in the above image of a Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) with a puffer fish clamped in its bill with a note: “Initially I thought it caught some sort of shellfish, as it was bashing it incessantly on the branch without much effect. After closer look at the photos, I realize it was some sort of puffer fish. If it is a puffer fish, I am quite sure it cannot deal with it like a sushi master. So how does the bird deal with the toxicity?”

An earlier post shows a Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) swallowing a similar Green-spotted Puffer (Tetraodon nigroviridis). Please access this LINK to read the account about puffer fish and their poison.

Lim Sheau Torng
Singapore
June 2013