Bissters
As bite-slayer or handle holder with zip Hook Beißschnabel refers to those birds of prey and owls that grab their prey with fangs and kill them by biting the neck. This distinguishes them from grip killers , who kill their prey by grabbing their catches.
Generally all falcon-like bis-killers are. Only the peregrine falcon often kills its prey due to the enormous force of the impact during a dive. If it does not succeed in this, it also kills its prey by biting the neck.
The upper beaks of the falcon-like are adapted to this form of killing by a special shape. They have a ripping hook bite that makes biting the prey's neck more efficient.
The Strangler , such as the red-backed shrike show features of bite killers. With their hooked beak, which also has a “tooth” just behind the curved tip, they kill prey such as fish. B. Mice by biting the neck.
literature
- Ralf Wassmann: Ornithological pocket dictionary. AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-8910-4627-8