Oriental Magpie-robin dealing with an earthworm

Jeremiah Loei’s vido clip of an Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) catching an earthworm was documented at Gardens by the Bay.

Earthworms are only safe from predators when they are deep inside their burrows. When among leaf litter, they are partially safe. However, foraging birds can easily seek them out by scratching among the decaying leaves. Once picked up by a bird, its only way of escaping is by wriggling.

Here, the wriggling of the otherwise defenseless earthworm requires the magpie-robin to bash it against the ground a few times before swallowing it.

Jeremiah Loei
Singapore
2nd October 2018