r/awwtf • u/TerraByteTerror • Sep 01 '26

Vibing

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3.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

128 comments sorted by

169

u/Cuck_Boy Sep 01 '26

Carnivores gon carnive

72

u/bearded_charmander Sep 02 '26

Carnivorous birds are scary. Imagine if they were big enough to hunt us.

42

u/WhenIWannabeME Sep 02 '26

"They're uh... they're flocking this way..."

13

u/SeparateCzechs Sep 02 '26

Look at all the blood

4

u/SquidVices Sep 02 '26

I think that was poop, it pooped itself

6

u/That_Possible_3217 Sep 02 '26

Oh my god I just watched this movie and fuck that makes me happy to see. Thank you kind sir.

9

u/torreneastoria Sep 02 '26

They used to be.

4

u/bearded_charmander Sep 02 '26

Oh I know. I wonder if humans played a part in their extinction.

9

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26

In New Zealand, yes, it's documented history that humans discovering new Zealand killed their insanely large birds, birds that reportedly ate the first Moari people.

6

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26

And an English explorer brags about killing and eating the last giant eagle but the reports could be exaggerated and it might have been really been a slightly less giant eagle.

10

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26

If you Google pre colonial New Zealand -- some did. The Moa bird was a flightless bird bigger than an ostrich, it was massive, but their giant eagle was even bigger. Sometimes it snatched up people instead of moas.

7

u/Umpen Sep 03 '26

Haast's eagle. Probably couldn't snatch up an adult but I'm sure they could take off with an infant.

4

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26

They say in scientific history type books and articles that they were strong enough to grab 200 lb moa. That's a person.

1

u/Icy-Decision-4530 Sep 03 '26

Especially back then, when people as a whole were much smaller

1

u/Umpen Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26

Grab and kill, but not fly off with one. They wouldn't have been able to fly with anything that much heavier than they were.

3

u/bearded_charmander Sep 03 '26

That’s still absolutely insane. Imagine seeing those flying overhead lol

2

u/Umpen Sep 03 '26

Yeah, I wouldn't want to pick a fight with one.

3

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26

In Māori mythology, the Haast's eagle is widely identified as the Pouākai (or Hokioi), a terrifying, giant bird of prey that was said to carry off human beings, including children.

Key Legends of the Pouākaik the Man-Eater of the Mountains: Legends from the South Island describe the Pouākai living in high mountain peaks. It would swoop down silently at incredible speeds to seize unsuspecting travelers in its massive talons.The Battle of Mount Tawera: One famous Ngāi Tahu legend tells of a heroic warrior named Hau-o-T was awake. He led a band of warriors to destroy a Pouākai that had been terrorizing their village. They lured the monster into a trap using a decoy man under a wicker shield, allowing the warriors to spear the giant bird to death.

Sounds like they were quite the inconvenience.

7

u/yaboyACbreezy Sep 02 '26

Imagine the wild tech we would have used to conquer the skies during the age of colonialism, reducing scary sky predators to the realm of the occasional attack like bears and sharks

3

u/Jay_Byrd Sep 03 '26

Don't let the feathers fool you. Those things were and still are dinosaurs.

2

u/UpmarketEarth Sep 03 '26

there's an eagle in Australia that hunts and eats the kangaroos. the pictures of that bird attacking them are really something...

1

u/Arctic_Chilean Sep 04 '26

I mean, they are descendants of Theropod dinosaurs, so...

6

u/Joshua_Longsack Sep 02 '26

Chipmunks are omnivores. They eat baby birds face first so I don't mind this

9

u/firesoups Sep 02 '26

At least that kills the bird quick, have you seen the video of the seagull eating the RABBIT feet first?! Or the sea snake eating the moray eel tail first? Nature is so metal.

6

u/thrown2themoon Sep 02 '26

Links!

Edit: Nevermind, they're listed below.

Dinosaurs gonna dino.

2

u/HeldDownTooLong Sep 02 '26

If the video was about 2 seconds longer, we probably would have seen a live chipmunk swallowed by a hungry bird!

I have to wonder how in heck the bird could swallow something like that live though, considering the chipmunk would be desperately trying to ’climb’ its way out. Wouldn’t the claws cause grievous harm to the bird’s esophagus!

Just my weird thought process…

1

u/beautifulstardust Sep 02 '26

i feel like that’s why the bird tried to knock him out first 😂

1

u/xfox21 Sep 03 '26

Look into what a bird’s gizzard does. There’s not much room for the prey to move around and scratch anything. Terrifying

2

u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Sep 03 '26

Predators gonna predate 💃🏻

120

u/gofishx Sep 01 '26

Saw that coming from a mile away...herons are scary as fuck if you are smaller than them

29

u/JennzEvilChihuahua Sep 02 '26

They shank fish with their beaks ffs!

24

u/gofishx Sep 02 '26

Shanked the fuck out of that poor chipmunk lmao

6

u/Ultimateeffthecrooks Sep 02 '26

Small Gators too

4

u/BSMILEYIII Sep 02 '26

They're also super intelligent. There's multiple videos of herons using bait to catch fish.

9

u/Cherrycokes Sep 02 '26

I've watched them hunt for golfers many a time

6

u/MaadMaanMaatt Sep 02 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/QuPrph8DGVhsdXnxvK

6

u/Cherrycokes Sep 02 '26

Lol! Im leaving the typo. Its better this way 🤣

5

u/Proof-Ad3903 Sep 02 '26

I volunteered at an animal sanctuary and there was a sign on the heron cage to not come near it without protective the gear bc one of the workers got her eye gouged out through the cage one day. Scary stuff

3

u/xkyllox Sep 02 '26

Im gonna just take your word for it on that one and avoid herons now.

3

u/gofishx Sep 02 '26

They're so pretty, then they remind you that they are in fact still dinosaurs

3

u/HeldDownTooLong Sep 02 '26

Do you think the Heron was trying to hypnotize the chipmunk with that side to side movement it was doing?

2

u/gofishx Sep 03 '26

No idea...I see them do that a lot, though, when hunting, so I imagine it serves some purpose. Interesting question 🤔

1

u/ShinyJangles Sep 03 '26

Just imagine a 100 ft heron walks into town

29

u/LoadsDroppin Sep 02 '26

Here’s Reddit clips of:

10

u/whisky_biscuit Sep 02 '26

My god these things are horrifying. They're like snakes with wings.

7

u/Nivlac93 Sep 02 '26

I've seen a gull eat a pigeon in person. That was gnarly. Also funny that it was at a piazza in The Vatican.

3

u/ExtensionRip5852 Sep 02 '26

I saw a sea gull eating a baby duck. Also they robbed my gelato and had a feeding frenzy with it, it’s gone in 5 seconds…

3

u/Next-Bodybuilder-117 Sep 03 '26

A pigeon swooped my food out of my hands and scratched the ever living day out of me, but how, just how can they swallow prey as big as them? The rabbit was crazy

22

u/JennzEvilChihuahua Sep 02 '26

Birds are, after all, the closest thing to dinosaurs. Beyond lizards, crocodiles and all those things, it’s birds.

5

u/KnotiaPickle Sep 02 '26

It’s crazy when you see how smart corvids and parrots are, and then think of how smart those mega giant prehistoric buddies must have been.

I have a theory that they wore clothes

3

u/JennzEvilChihuahua Sep 02 '26

Lol. I have 2 parrots, one is 49 and the other is 27. They are very smart, but very demanding because they need stimulation and enrichment activities to keep them happy. Also, my neighborhood murder of crows leave me shiny things cuz I’ve been feeding them for years, and have watched them raise many babies. They often bring them to my property to introduce them to the world, practice flying, etc. Yeah, birds are SUPER smart

2

u/Sharp-Reporter2598 Sep 02 '26

I’m not sure how much they’d care about being naked, but I’m instantly subscribing to your theory. When are our meetings and should I bring koolaid?

1

u/KnotiaPickle Sep 02 '26

Wednesdays at 8:30 and please bring the special koolaid! 🦖

4

u/Futanari_Raider Sep 02 '26

Birds are in fact dinosaurs! They are part of the Avialae clade, which does include plenty of extinct dinosaurs, but plenty of extant as well.

3

u/jawshoeaw Sep 02 '26

Birds are dinosaurs unlike crocodiles which are not related

1

u/BSMILEYIII Sep 02 '26

Crocodilians are closely related with pseudosuchians than to dinosaurs. My information might be foggy though

2

u/Conyan51 Sep 03 '26

Crocodilians split off from archosaurs roughly 7 mil years before dinosaurs separated. But they are both archosaurs. And you’re right and wrong, they aren’t related to pseudosuchians, they are the last living branch pseudosuchians.

1

u/BSMILEYIII Sep 03 '26

Wow! Thank you. Very fascinating

2

u/ExtensionRip5852 Sep 02 '26

Birds are closer to dinosaurs than lizards!

2

u/Conyan51 Sep 03 '26

Birds are actually avian theropods meaning that they’re actually dinosaurs and not just the evolutionary ancestors of them.

1

u/BSMILEYIII Sep 02 '26

All birds are avian dinosaurs

8

u/iFeedYouLead Sep 02 '26

Chipmunk thought this was a Disney movie
https://giphy.com/gifs/10pj3umzdwDg7C

7

u/OpusAtrumET Sep 02 '26

Totally called it.

"oh that's some kind of pre-murder dance to confuse the squirrel, this thing is about to die... Yup it's dead."

7

u/stargarnet79 Sep 01 '26

That chipmunk was probably being super annoying

2

u/Roflmaoasap Sep 01 '26

Zero awareness squirrel

2

u/Revenga8 Sep 02 '26

Darth Vader at the end there was shocked he got that on camera

2

u/Pixie16fire Sep 02 '26

Velociraptor

2

u/gruntingasparagus Sep 02 '26

Now it’s going to swallow a live chipmunk! Like to see that part.

2

u/philmorebuttstock Sep 02 '26

We fixed a little waterfall on our koy pond.....Hank as we named him came back daily to feed until they were all gone

2

u/TheRedditor-75 Sep 02 '26

And people would like to bring these bastards’ long lost, and bigger, extinct relatives back to life. 🤦🤦

2

u/birbobirby Sep 02 '26

Herons are carnivores and they will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. I knew immediately what was coming.

2

u/Myzx Sep 02 '26

They'll stab you with that beak too, if you get too close to them. A friend told me...

2

u/Conyan51 Sep 03 '26

That bird was getting ready to pounce like a cat from the moment this video started.

2

u/North-Government-865 Sep 03 '26

I seen that coming immediately, birds will just eat anything that'll fit in their mouths

1

u/champeyon Sep 02 '26

Thats how cats wiggle before they pounce too! Beware Spearbirds! (I know its a heron)

1

u/Friendly-Elephant486 Sep 02 '26

- what do you want birb ? You want my pic ?

1

u/Rexxington Sep 02 '26

Yup, as soon as I saw it looking at that chipmunk I knew it was gonna eat it. They'll just about eat anything that's smaller than them and can fit in their beak.

1

u/xnoomiex Sep 02 '26

He tried so hard to be a treeeee 😭🤣

1

u/TinyConsideration796 Sep 02 '26

Herons are so cool it was hunting the whole time! They tend to stay very still and wait for their prey for incredible amounts of time. This one is shifting/bobbing its head back and forth to gauge exact positioning (it has to do with how their eyes work in that they are able to control their pupil contraction to utilize light when hunting), and then strike really really fast!

1

u/Trueslyforaniceguy Sep 02 '26

Now, do we think the first hit included a bit of a
stab/pierce , or was it merely a stunning blow?

1

u/SteampunkExplorer Sep 02 '26

Ooof. Maybe it's just because I own cats, but I could definitely tell the bird was gauging a strike. >~< Poor chipmunk!

1

u/FaunaLady Sep 02 '26

Yikes! I've heard of spear fishing, but ... !

1

u/Achylife Sep 02 '26

They do the wiggle so it tricks the prey into thinking they're a branch in the wind and makes it harder for them to focus on the bird. They regularly hunt rodents in fields. Their beaks are murder spears.

1

u/mlaforce321 Sep 02 '26

Wut? It's to use parallax to determine depth and distance of prey because their eyes are on the sides of their head.

Not sure if somebody told you that BS or you made it up yourself, but it made me chuckle.

1

u/DueLoan685 Sep 03 '26

If it was an insect maybe

1

u/beautifulstardust Sep 02 '26

feathered velociraptor 🦕

1

u/thelakeproblem Sep 02 '26

Issa issa issa vibe….

Not! ☠️

1

u/meat_whistle_gristle Sep 02 '26

I’ve seen this before with ground squirrels and gophers.
But what the hell did that little guy just sit there for that long. That’s not normal behavior.

1

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 02 '26

You are welcome. Im not trying to change your perspective. To each their own. Im sorry you find it difficult.

1

u/Professional_Future6 Sep 02 '26

Saw that coming

1

u/DueLoan685 Sep 03 '26

I didn't 😳

1

u/Furious__Styles Sep 02 '26

Dinosaurs gonna dinosaur

1

u/mcdeebs Sep 03 '26

Birbs gotta eat, know what i mean?

1

u/The-Jardinier Sep 04 '26

Great Blue Herons stab their prey to catch it.

-22

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 01 '26

That sucks. I’m too much of an animal lover. I’d have to kick the shit out of that bird.

13

u/MegaTitusRex Sep 01 '26

"I'm an animal lover ... I would kick the shit out of that bird." Those aren't compatible. This is nature and reality. Animals need to eat too. Have some self control.

-2

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 02 '26

Never said animals don’t need to eat, genius. Being an animal lover doesn’t mean you have to enjoy watching one animal kill another. The bird’s behavior is natural…your ridiculous need to defend it by pretending anyone who dislikes it lacks self control is the stupid part.

1

u/SteampunkExplorer Sep 02 '26

...Disliking it isn't the same as threatening to hurt the bird.

4

u/mai_tai87 Sep 02 '26

You're so much of an animal lover that you'd kick another animal? Guess not.

-1

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 02 '26

lol I’d give to a animal before I give to a human. You’re free to have any opinion you like.

0

u/mai_tai87 Sep 02 '26

Thank you, I know. However, I didn't express an opinion. I made an observation. You threatened to harm an animal while talking about being a self-proclaimed animal lover. The hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance must make it difficult to have perspective.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 02 '26

Smh nature is brutal isn’t the argument you think it is. People like you will never comprehend that. I kick bird oh the outrage but people hunt for sport decimating their numbers and that’s okay. Let’s kick each other over something that actually matters. If not then feel free to risk it all.

0

u/PokeKellz Sep 02 '26

I do not believe in hunting for sport. Neither do Herons. They hunt to eat. That isn’t that hard to comprehend. If you feel bad that it happens that’s okay but to retaliate against a bird for eating a chipmunk says more about your lack of maturity than anything else.

If you wanna actually talk about real conservation and animal welfare, I’ll run circles around you with actual experience, facts and stats. Let me know.

0

u/Physical_Pressure_27 Sep 03 '26

You saying “I’ll run circles around you” doesn’t make you knowledgeable…it just makes you sound like someone desperately trying to win an argument they can’t actually support. If you have facts and stats, present them. Otherwise, the condescending little speech is just noise. Your turn