Cassin's Kingbird eating Monarch Butterfly

I shot this in El Dorado Park.  Because of the twigs and shadows it's only good for documentation but still interesting in that  one seldom sees a Monarch butterfly getting eaten. 

As it turns out, (yeah another of  Shinn's boring science notes)  when researchers were testing the age-old story about the reason that birds don't eat Monarchs, they tried ripping off the wings before offering them to the birds. And, their wingless, wiggling bodies were summarily gulped down by an assortment of birds along with seeds and other food.

In another study, which really shows a bizarre  level of dedication, a bunch of volunteers tested the hypothesis  that the Monarchs tasted bitter because of their Milkweed diet by chewing into a platter of Monarchs.  These were thoughtfully compared with the taste of other butterflies and the lepidopteran gluttons were delighted to report that they all tasted the same and non of them were bitter.  But, did they swallow?

 

The hypothesis was that the wings of the Monarchs (and a lot of other butterflies) do not trigger a "feeding response" in most birds.  I've noticed that  Black Phoebe in my yard ignores the abundant Cabbage butterflies.  I can't answer for the rest of you but I  seldom get a hankering for a Big Mac just because a butterfly fluttersby.  So there ya go.

Then, with yet another  myth dispelled, have a look at these.  The Kingbird nearly had the thing swallowed but unfortunately a Flicker who  seemed to be drawn to the Kingbird's prize chased it to another tree where second Kingbird came onto the scene and chased it off to places unknown.  I did not get to see the bird actually get the thing swallowed.

Cheers,  Steve

BTW, if anyone wants to read up on some relevant studies have a look at;

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEYQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fresearch.yale.edu%2Fpeabody%2Fjls%2Fpdfs%2F1960s%2F1964%2F1964-18%283%29165-Petetersen.pdf&ei=2ufgUOiDJIKdiQKRu4CQCQ&usg=AFQjCNG2Rf_eotHw1J2KBVQ8m-YPArJMcA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.cGE

It is also reported that whatever toxins in the Monarch are lower in the winter months so predation is more common. 

Interesting story and capture Steve, thanks for sharing. Happy new year my friend. 

-d-