Gourmand New Caledonian crows munch rare escargots by dropping

Abstract

Numerous broken shells of a rare endemic snail Placostylus fibratus, a species rated as vulnerable, were scattered around rocky beds of dry creeks in rainforest of New Caledonian. We set a video camera near one site to identify the predator. We recorded a New Caledonian crow Corvus moneduloides dropping and consuming the snail. This is the first direct evidence of the crow dropping of this native species. The assumed weight of snails relative to the crow is exceptionally heavy among prey dropped by birds. © 2013 Japan Ethological Society and Springer Japan.