This is hearsay only - but I recall being told that Satin Bowerbird
breeding in Victorian forests has a strong tendency to coincide in
location and time with largescale Cicada activity. At the only SBB nest
I ever saw, the female fed a half-feathered young one a newly-emerged
cicada which had not yet changed out of its brown overalls. Probably a
Green or Yellow Monday.
I have seen Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes feeding their young on whole
adult Green Monday Cicadas, after pulling wings and legs off and bashing
the insect on a branch to compress it. It still looked an awkward
mouthful.
I have also seen Indian Mynahs and House Sparrows attack them. They
tend to pull the legs off but can't actually swallow the body.
What other birds eat large cicadas?
Anthea Fleming in Melbourne
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