This is bird note.

The world is full of poisonous creatures.

Some butterflies, beetles, and frogs use bright colors to warn birds and other predators

that they're full of toxins.

But you might be surprised to learn that some birds are poisonous, too.

The hooded Pita-Houi is a bird that lives in New Guinea and eats a toxic beetle.

The pittahooys aren't sensitive to the beetle's toxin, so they can accumulate large amounts of it

in their skin and feathers. Scientists examined the chemicals from pittahui feathers and identified

the same type of toxin found in poison dart frogs. Like the birds, the frogs may also gain

their chemical defenses from eating insects. But pittahooys aren't the only birds that pack a toxic punch.

When roughed grouse eat a plant called Mountain Laurel,

they pick up a poisonous compound that can make them an unappetizing meal for a fox or a human hunter.

And quail in the eastern hemisphere sometimes snack on hemlock, turning them into a very upsetting dinner item.

Many predators like to eat birds, making the world a pretty dangerous place for them.

But evolution has made some birds a little dangerous, too.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.