Wild Facts

Did You Know?

• The Oilbird is the only nocturnal, flying, fruit-devouring bird in the world (the Kakapo comes close but they don’t fly)
• In order to see in the darkness of the night, the Oilbird will rely on echolocation (yup, just like a bat)
• This nocturnal bird is known to be a colonial nester and believe it or not creates a nest from their droppings

One of the Few Birds to Utilize Echolocation

Considering the Oilbird is one of the few birds known to use echolocation (and the only nocturnal one known to do so), we had better take a minute to learn more about this unique behaviour.  So yes, the Oilbird is capable of emitting a high-pitched clicking sound that presents them with a nice, clear picture of their surroundings. Interestingly enough, unlike the frequency used by bats, we can actually hear this bird’s squeaky call. Granted, it may be a little eerie to hear a very high-pitched sound coming from the trees in the middle of the night, especially in South America where there are deadly creatures around every corner.

Click for photo source

A Rough Start to Life

Okay, so we know this bird is a little different than most as they are nocturnal, use echolocation and apparently build a nest out of their own droppings. I wish I could tell you that I was making this last one up but alas, I am not. I guess we need to set up the context first. You see, the Oilbird is known to be a colonial nester, which means they like to be part of a large crowd when they nest. Not only do they like to have friends and family close by but they also seek the protection of caves when nesting (yes, I am sure this is a bird and not a bat…although, it does have a lot of bat-like properties…okay, I am not sure anymore ). Getting back to their nest. Since there are a ton of birds sitting in a cave, you can imagine just how much “nesting material” would be around. So the birds construct a nice dropping nest and lay 2-4 small, white eggs. I can just imagine the look on the newborn birds face when it realizes they are sitting in bird poop – not the best way to start your day!

We have heard of the space arms race or nuclear arms race. It seems we are always try to one-up other countries to be the best or the first to achieve something.  It appears that we are not alone in this sort of competition.

This same sort of one-upping competition can be seen in nature as well.  For the longest time I am sure that bats thought they ruled the roost (or at least the night sky). Bats are  able to use echolocation (same as dolphins) to be able to hunt their prey at night.  By emitting ultra-sonic sounds bats are able to create a picture of the night sky by the reflections of these sounds.  This is the same principle the military uses to detect enemy planes or submarines (it is a sonar).  In an event to show up the poor little bat (well, I guess it is really in an event to survive) the tiger moth evolved a technique that will actually jam the sonar of the bat.

Try to picture this, the hungry little bat is cruising the night sky emitting these numerous high pitch sounds to create a mental picture of the surroundings.  The sound bounces back and shows the bat an image of a tasty moth.  Thinking it is his lucky day, the bat swoops in for the kill. Just as the bat swoops though, the sneaky little tiger moth starts emitting numerous ultrasonic clicks (about 450 clicks in a tenth of a second).  At this point, the bat no longer has a clear image of the night sky and can’t see its prey.  It is as if something turned its etch-a-sketch upside down, the picture disappears. Studies have shown that 85% of the time, the bat would be unsuccessful in capturing a sonar jamming moth.  I am assuming that the bat will now need to evolve some sort of tiger moth sonar jamming, jammer or just eat other moths that aren’t as successful in escaping their predator.

Check out the video below to see the tiger moth at work.

This is a very short clip of a bat attempting to catch a tiger moth.  Turn on the sound so you can hear the clicks of the Tiger Moth.

Enjoy!