Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world. Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the poisonous variable pitohui from New Guinea. This jay sized, ...

The hooded pitohui of New Guinea is one of the few known poisonous birds. Its feathers and skin contain batrachotoxins, potent neurotoxins also found in poison dart frogs. Local hunters are aware of ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Several bird species in New Guinea, like the hooded pitohui, variable pitohui, blue-capped ifrita, and rufous shrikethrush, carry ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In the summer of 1989, Jack Dumbacher was a fresh-faced ornithologist-in-training on his maiden expedition to the lush rainforests ...

Closely related to the hooded pitohui, the northern variable pitohui also contains batrachotoxins The red warbler, native to Mexico, is another bird that carries toxins in its feathers The European ...

While birds are generally perceived as harmless, a few species possess toxins for defense, acquired through their diet. The hooded pitohui and blue-capped ifrita use toxins in their skin and feathers, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. This article is more than 2 years old. Poison is a ...

A bird with toxic feathers may have taken on the colors of a poisonous neighbor, according to a new genetic analysis. Plenty of butterflies have evolved copycat warning colors, but cases of bird ...

New Guinea is home to some of the world’s most toxic birds. Why they contain poison, and how they withstand it is still a source of scientific mystery. The variable pitohui, a poisonous bird, captured ...

When we talk about poisonous animals, birds rarely make the list. Snakes? Absolutely. Frogs? Sure. But birds? Most of us see them as peaceful, graceful creatures– the kind that fly away at the first ...