This is Bird Note.

Kingbirds are Robin-sized flycatchers that excel at plucking insects from the air.

They'll even tackle prey as big as cicadas.

Finding, well camouflaged cicadas hidden among the leaves, is hard work.

But two species of Kingbirds in Arizona found a shortcut, stealing them from cicada killer wasps.

Scientists noticed that castles and thick-billed Kingbirds gather near cicada killer burrows.

The female wasps nearly two inches long, paralyze the cicadas, and bring them to their burrows for their young to eat.

The cicada is almost as big as the wasp, so a wasp flying with a cicada is vulnerable to attack.

A Kingbird will dart from a perch and try to wrestle the cicada away, like a pirate of the skies.

The thick-billed Kingbird has a beak big enough to crunch a cicada's hard exoskeleton, says researcher Joe Quello.

But Cassons Kingbirds have to beat their prey against a branch first.

Even if the wasps make it past the Kingbirds, they risk ambush on the ground from an even bigger thief.

Roadrunners!

All told, the wasps have about a 50-50 chance of making it home with their cargo intact.

For bird note, I'm Michael Stein.