Bird plays with golf balls

aww@lemmy.world – 666 points – 1 months ago

i.imgur.com

https://imgur.com/gallery/enjoy-simple-things-life-Ahez4jL

Video caption: "This bird just discovered that golf balls bounce on concrete and he's absolutely loving it."

I assume the bird tries to break open the "eggs" it found. I know, boring explanation for an absolute funny video.

Not eggs, but prey. They use this movement to break its bones and kill it.

It's a siriema if I'm not mistaken. There are a bunch of them in the country side of where I live (Brazilian Cerrado). They are absolutely fantastic animals

Ayup. These birds make the same movement with snakes and other animals to break all their bones.

I assume the bird’s knowledge is inarticulate and all it knows is that it’s very satisfying to slam the ball on the concrete.

I assumed it was trying to feast on the goo inside.

TIL golf balls are filled with nutritious goo

We were gonna wait till you were older, but it's good you know now.

I already swallowed four

This is a bird called the Sereima, and what you are seeing isn't random behavior: it's how they hunt. They chase rodents and lizards down, grab them with their beaks, then slam their prey down onto rocks repeatedly until they stop moving.

Metal as hell.

Probably thought it was an egg

The bird:

"WHY THE HELL ARENT THESE EGGS BREAKING? WHAT MANNER OF BIRD LAID THESE ABOMINATIONS?"

Didnt think about animals getting slamed on the ground. Smaller birds do this with fruita/nuts to break them

A surprisingly wide range of animals will engage in play behavior

Bumblebees have been shown to love having small beads around for them to roll around and on

Edit: sheer amount of people replying who can't just let the silly birb have fun. Guess what, dogs and cats derive play behaviors from predation too, doesn't mean that play ain't play.

I think you're right, but i also remember learnning that some birds have learned to break nuts open using concrete, which i think is what this bird is trying to do

And, that's how you get UNinvited to my parties. 🤫

first time was an accident. second time was for science.

Third times totally a party trick.

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If I'm not mistaken (resolution doesn't help), this bird is a Siriema. They use this movement to kill their prey (usually reptiles like snakes and lizards, but also frogs and small rodents). It is not playing, it is confused, thinking the ball is food.

can't both be true though?

Yes

Do it once because it's instinct

Keep doing it because it's fun (had an unexpected amusing result, which is the basis of fun, really)

It is not playing, it is confused, thinking the ball is food.

I am just picturing some alien biologist studying us

"This human is operating a video game called a FPS. It may seem like he is playing but really his instincts for self defense and attack are just misfiring. It isn't recreational it is just confusion"

Guess what, dogs and cats derive play behaviors from predation too, doesn’t mean that play ain’t play.

Humans also derive play behaviour from foraging and predation. Play is play, and everyone can have fun, no matter the species.

I saw a fox doing the same thing with a tennis ball some dog left behind at the park.

This isn't play, its probing to see if it can break open the funny egg and eat it. These birds do this to all their prey.

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And he is so eager doing so. Looks like the most important task all day with him runnig up to the path. He puts everything he got into smashing that ball onto the concrete as hard as he possibly can and is all fluffed up when that thing inevitably comes down again to nearly hit him. Almost like a toddler.

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It's a fun idea, but the bird is trying to crack the golf balls to get to the juicy egg stuff inside.