Dudu Diaries

Category: Ecology, Moths | Date: Mar 25 2009 | By: dududiaries

Hello - this morning I discovered a pair of mating hawkmoths sheltering on leaf in the garden. Just as I was photographing them, the female lifted the male, who is attached to her, into the air. As she flew clumsily (I guess he was rather heavy), I waited for them to land again so that I could continue photographing them.    Suddenly a flash of angry red cut through the air. It seized the pair of moths and settled in a bush. Stunned, I moved forward to see what it was - a Paradise Flycatcher - one of the most voracious and beautiful birds in Kenya. The flycatcher seized the moths and gulped down the male first.  The female managed to break free…     But not for long…    The bird pursued her swiftly up into the trees, grabbed her and then after beating her against a branch to remove some of the hairs covering her fat body, gulped her down whole!