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An adult Eastern green whiptail (Philodryas olfersii) at the beginning of swallowing a female House sparrow (Passer domesticus) caught on a particular tree in a garden in southeast Brazil (top). The same snake at the end of swallowing a fully grown juvenile Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) caught on the same tree nine days later (bottom). © I. Sazima.
Source publication
Snakes are known to employ two major hunting strategies, ambush or wide foraging. Whatever the strategy a snake supposedly chooses potentially profitable hunting grounds. Whereas hunting site fidelity is recorded for a few ambushing species, there seems to be no records available for such fidelity for a widely foraging snake. We report on hunting s...
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Citations
... It is a slender, green and semi-arboreal snake, foraging both in vegetation and on the ground. This snake feeds on a variety of prey types, including birds (Hartmann & Marques, 2005;Sazima & Marques, 2007). Analysis of the gland secretion of P. olfersii has revealed the presence of the main toxin classes found in highly venomous viperids (Ching et al., 2006). ...
... Analysis of the gland secretion of P. olfersii has revealed the presence of the main toxin classes found in highly venomous viperids (Ching et al., 2006). The high toxicity of P. olfersii venom likely favours capture of birds, an important item of its diet (Sazima & Marques, 2007). This snake can easily bite humans resulting in severe pain and extensive oedema (Castro et al., 2021) and rarely even death (Salomão & Di-Bernardo, 1995). ...
... For example, morphological adaptations related to habitat use on cranial architecture, body size, and tail morphology that enable snakes to explore fossorial, aquatic, terrestrial, or arboreal habitats, can affect snake foraging strategies, prey selection, and prey capture (Vangilder & Vitt 1983;Vitt 1983). Therefore, a reliable foraging habitat is essential for hunting success, providing a regular source of suitable prey (Sazima & Marques 2007). ...
... Snakes can usually hunt actively or by lurking, as there are species capable of using both strategies (Bernarde et al., 2000;Sazima and Marques, 2007;. The Micrurus ibiboboca proved to be an active predator such as M. albicintus elucidated by Souza et al. (2011), and possibly both species are guided by chemical sensors and olfaction to find their prey (Bernarde, 2012). ...
Siphonops annulatus (Mikan, 1822) is a neotropical caecilian widely distributed in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests. It is among the best studied caecilians in the Neotropical region, but many aspects of its natural history remain poorly known. Here we report an exceptionally large individual of S. annulatus from Rondonia, Brazil. At 720 mm total length, this specimen is much larger than the previously largest reported for the species at 539 mm.
... Todavia, informações sobre a descrição de eventos de predação para essa serpente são escassos. Vale salientar que, apesar do conhecimento sobre aves como item alimentar na dieta dessa serpente, relatos com imagem de predação envolvendo o P. domesticus raramente têm sido documentados (Sazima, 2006;Sazima & Marques, 2007), destacando a importância desse evento. O modo como um adulto de P. olfersii subjugou a presa, bem como sua tática de captura, confirma observação já documentada por Sazima & Marques (2007) para o sudeste do Brasil. ...
... Vale salientar que, apesar do conhecimento sobre aves como item alimentar na dieta dessa serpente, relatos com imagem de predação envolvendo o P. domesticus raramente têm sido documentados (Sazima, 2006;Sazima & Marques, 2007), destacando a importância desse evento. O modo como um adulto de P. olfersii subjugou a presa, bem como sua tática de captura, confirma observação já documentada por Sazima & Marques (2007) para o sudeste do Brasil. Esses autores observaram uma fidelidade em relação ao local de forrageio para indivíduo de P. olfersii. ...
A presente comunicação relata um evento de predação no qual a serpente Philodryas olfersii preda a ave Passer domesticus. Esse registro foi verificado em uma área urbana da Zona da Mata do estado de Pernambuco, Brasil, no município de Nazaré da Mata, em 21 de junho de 2009.
... Snakes can usually hunt actively or by lurking, as there are species capable of using both strategies (Bernarde et al., 2000;Sazima and Marques, 2007;Turci et al., 2009). The Micrurus ibiboboca proved to be an active predator such as M. albicintus elucidated by Souza et al. (2011), and possibly both species are guided by chemical sensors and olfaction to find their prey (Bernarde, 2012). ...
... Philodryas olfersii (Lichtenstein 1823) is a medium-sized venomous, semi-arboreal and diurnal snake widely distributed throughout South America, where it occurs in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela [1,2]. It inhabits mainly forest and forest edge habitats [3], but can also be found in swampy and agricultural areas as well as in the vicinity of human habitations [4][5][6][7]. As a generalist predator, P. olfersii preys on a wide variety of small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, rodents and bats [8][9][10][11]. ...
... In southern Brazil, P. olfersii has been reported to prey mainly on nestlings [2]. The present study, however, found adults and nestlings to account for most records of predation by P. olfersii (see Table 1), which seems to reflect its generalist feeding strategy and the availability of these prey items in the habitats where this snake species is found [2,4,24]. Furthermore, the higher number of bird predation events that occurred in vegetation is associated with foraging strategies and camouflage of P. olfersii in this type of microhabitat, which favors hunting for prey and avoiding visually oriented predators [2]. ...
Snakes are common predators of birds. However, reported cases of snake predation on Troglodytes musculus are scarce. Here, we report a predation attempt of a Troglodytes musculus nestling by the dipsadid snake Philodryas olfersii. We also present a list with bird species recorded as prey of this snake species. We found 25 predation events of P. olfersii on adult, juvenile, and nestling birds. A total of 19 bird species from 14 families have been reported as prey of P. olfersii. Most predation events occurred on the vegetation, while some others were observed on the ground, cage, and artificial nest.
... Several authors report birds as part of the diet of snakes of the genus Philodryas (Vitt, 1980;Hartmann and Marques, 2005;Leite et al., 2009;Mesquita et al., 2011), but few literature records (e.g. Sazima and Marques, 2007;Sazima, 2015) specify how snakes catch these highly evasive preys. For instance, the Lichtenstein's Green Racer, Philodryas olfersii (Lichtenstein, 1823) chooses profitable hunting spots in trees to ambush birds (Sazima, 2015). ...
... However, if the snake is detected by adult birds, they can promptly perform mobbing to avoid predation of chicks, as in the episode of approximation of P. nattereri to nests of the birds Tangara sayaca and Troglodytes musculus. Mobbing is a type of harassing behavior employed by birds in the presence of potential predators, in which they emit alarm calls, display visual signals (which may attract additional birds to the mobbing group), and may fly towards the potential predator, disturbing it by pecking (Sick, 1997;Sazima and Marques, 2007;Sazima, 2015). In some instances, the mobbing behavior may be successful in discouraging the predator, as in the attempted predation event upon chicks of T. sayaca reported in this study. ...
In this study, we report new dietary data about the South American dipsadine snake Philodryas nattereri in the Caatinga ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Our observations in the wild include predation on a large-sized lizard, an adult bird, venomous toads, a snake, bird chicks inside nests, and a mammal. Besides that, we compared the diet composition of P. nattereri between the Caatinga and the Cerrado ecoregions of Brazil, by pooling our original data with all available literature records. We found a significant difference in the diet of P. nattereri between these two regions: lizards comprise the predominant prey category for P. nattereri in the Caatinga, whereas mammals stand out as the most reported prey in the Cerrado. Our results evidence generalist and opportunistic feeding habits of P. nattereri, one of the most common snake species in Brazil.
... Several authors report birds as part of the diet of snakes of the genus Philodryas (Vitt, 1980;Hartmann and Marques, 2005;Leite et al., 2009;Mesquita et al., 2011), but few literature records (e.g. Sazima and Marques, 2007;Sazima, 2015) specify how snakes catch these highly evasive preys. For instance, the Lichtenstein's Green Racer, Philodryas olfersii (Lichtenstein, 1823) chooses profitable hunting spots in trees to ambush birds (Sazima, 2015). ...
... However, if the snake is detected by adult birds, they can promptly perform mobbing to avoid predation of chicks, as in the episode of approximation of P. nattereri to nests of the birds Tangara sayaca and Troglodytes musculus. Mobbing is a type of harassing behavior employed by birds in the presence of potential predators, in which they emit alarm calls, display visual signals (which may attract additional birds to the mobbing group), and may fly towards the potential predator, disturbing it by pecking (Sick, 1997;Sazima and Marques, 2007;Sazima, 2015). In some instances, the mobbing behavior may be successful in discouraging the predator, as in the attempted predation event upon chicks of T. sayaca reported in this study. ...
In this study, we report new dietary data about the South American dipsadine snake Philodryas nattereri in the Caatinga ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Our observations in the wild include predation on a large-sized lizard, an adult bird, venomous toads, a snake, bird chicks inside nests, and a mammal. Besides that, we compared the diet composition of P. nattereri between the Caatinga and the Cerrado ecoregions of Brazil, by pooling our original data with all available literature records. We found a significant difference in the diet of P. nattereri between these two regions: lizards comprise the predominant prey category for P. nattereri in the Caatinga, whereas mammals stand out as the most reported prey in the Cerrado. Our results evidence generalist and opportunistic feeding habits of P. nattereri, one of the most common snake species in Brazil.
... Thus, if a site presents food abundance or any hunting advantage, some degree of site fidelity by predators is expected. Foraging site fidelity has been reported for snakes, and they used specific hunting grounds repeatedly, in both foraging modes (sit-and-wait ambushers and active searching) (Puente-Rolón & Bird-Picó, 2004;Sazima & Marques, 2007). The ambush-hunting snake Chilabothrus inornatus (Reinhardt, 1843), in Puerto Rico, used the entrance of one cave to hunt bats, returning to the same point regularly (Puente-Rolón & Bird-Picó, 2004). ...
... The ambush-hunting snake Chilabothrus inornatus (Reinhardt, 1843), in Puerto Rico, used the entrance of one cave to hunt bats, returning to the same point regularly (Puente-Rolón & Bird-Picó, 2004). Sazima & Marques (2007) observed a specimen of the active-searching Philodryas olfersii (Lichtenstein, 1823) revisiting a successful bird-hunting site for nine months. The authors recorded the same snake hunting birds in the same tree five times (three of which were successful) and suggested that this foraging site fidelity could be linked to a snake's learning process. ...
... During the encounter we noticed that the stomach area was distended, suggesting recent ingestion of prey. This is the first report of foraging site fidelity for a Thamnodynastes species and the second long-term foraging site fidelity reported for a Brazilian species (Sazima & Marques, 2007). The relationship between snake presence on that tree and anuran calling activity, especially Scinax spp. ...
... In urban areas the predator diversity is restricted to a few species, and hawks are the commonest dove predators there (Thiollay 1994, Sick 1997. Besides raptors, in anthropogenic areas doves may fall prey to a few snake species that dwell there as well (Sazima & Marques 2007, Barbo et al. 2011. ...
... The Eastern Green Whiptail feeds mostly on rodents and reptiles, but birds are present in its diet as well (Hartmann & Marques 2005). Indeed, this snake is a skilled bird hunter able to catch adult passerine birds and is mobbed whenever spotted by mockingbirds and other passerines (Sazima & Marques 2007, Sazima 2015b. Thus, its preying on an Eared Dove nestling would not come as a surprise, and possibly this snake is an important predator on the dove and other bird nestlings in anthropogenic areas. ...
Doves are preyed on by a variety of vertebrate predators including mammals, birds, and snakes. In urban areas the predator diversity is restricted to a few species, and hawks are the commonest dove predators there. Herein we report events of predation on the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) and the Picazuro Pigeon (Patagioenas picazuro) by two accipitrid raptors, the Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) and the Plumbeous Kite (Ictinia plumbea), a falconid, the Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis), besides a dipsadid snake, the Eastern Green Whiptail (Philodryas olfersii), at an urban park. The doves were hunted mostly during their fledgling stages. The Plumbeous Kite hunted Eared Doves only during its breeding season to feed the offspring, whereas the Roadside Hawk preyed both on Eared Doves and the Picazuro Pigeon also during its non-breeding period. The Aplomado Falcon preyed on an adult Picazuro Pigeon, whereas the Eastern Whip Snake preyed on a nestling Eared Dove. The Roadside Hawk was the main predator of the Eared Dove in the studied park, and probably would prove to be an important predator of this and additional dove species at other urban areas.
