A poisonous bird

Flycatcher thrush, or pitaju

Each of us knows about the existence of poisonous snakes, spiders and even frogs, but have you heard ever that there are also poisonous birds? If not, let me introduce pitaju – small, colorful birds native to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. They are a relatively recent scientific discovery, although the people of Papua New Guinea have long been familiar with these unusual feathered creatures. Please note that these birds don't have poisonous fangs, and stinger.

At the moment pitaju is one of the three known species of poisonous birds. There are six types pitaju, most of which have small body size, about 23 cm, and colored in bright warning colors. The most poisonous of all the six species of — thrush streaked Flycatcher, streaked or pitaju.

The poison is in the body of a bird — feathers, skin and internal organs — a solid poison.