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By Alex Fox
Every fall, birdwatchers on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico look forward to the arrival of many songbirds. They are not the only ones. New research shows that baby tiger sharks regularly eat seasonal travelers, nibbling dead or dead birds.
The study dates back to 2010 when researchers identified a wad of gooey feathers bristling with a tiger shark baby (Galeocerdo cuvier) caught off the Gulf of Mexico. Sharks were found with everything from chicken coops to unexploded ordnance in the stomach, and the team was waiting for the feathers to come from a seabird. Instead, they belonged to a songbird.
To determine if this phenomenon was more prevalent, the team examined the stomach contents of newborn tiger sharks between 2010 and 2018. The team captured the sharks with a rod and a reel , then pushed down plastic tubes before releasing the ocean animals.
Forty-one of the 105 tiger sharks examined by the researchers had bird feathers in the stomach. Local ornithologists were able to identify the least digested feathers, but some were so extinct that they required DNA analysis. Scientists have identified ferns, sparrows and even pigeons in the gullies of 41 sharks, a total of 11 different species, none of which are of marine origin, they report today. Ecology.
Researchers believe that migratory birds make their way through the mouths of sharks when autumn storms send them into the sea where, unable to leave, they drown and become a feathered buffet.
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