aww @lemmy.world threelonmusketeers @sh.itjust.works 4w ago

Bird plays with golf balls

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."

23 comments

I assume the bird tries to break open the "eggs" it found. I know, boring explanation for an absolute funny video.
- Ayup. These birds make the same movement with snakes and other animals to break all their bones.
I assumed it was trying to feast on the goo inside.
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. 🤫
- 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.
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.
- The only difference is they didn’t run so fast they fell over and started crying.
It's a fun idea, but the bird is trying to crack the golf balls to get to the juicy egg stuff inside.
I love this bird so much <3
Having 2001 Space Odyssey music playing in my head while watching.
- Relevant scene, for those who are out-of-the-loop: https://youtu.be/ypEaGQb6dJk&t=362
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  
  https://piped.video/ypEaGQb6dJk&t=362
  
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Witchcraft!!!

23 comments