There are some wonders of nature like fish jumping from sea to catch flying insects above, spitting fish for prey and many more.
But, a very unusual video is now gaining popularity as it features group European Catfish in the wild catching unsuspecting pigeons that are trying to drink water along the Tarn River in the Southwest region.
According to the PLOS ONE Science blog, this process is an adaptive behavior on the side of the predator. The report also noted that European catfish are original from the Rhine River, but was introduced to the lake in 1983, and, since then, they have adapted in novel preys in the area.
“Among a total of 45 beaching behaviors observed and filmed, 28% were successful in bird capture… Since this extreme behavior has not been reported in the native range of the species, our results suggest that some individuals in introduced predator populations may adapt their behavior to forage on novel prey in new environments, leading to behavioral and trophic specialization to actively cross the water-land interface,” the study says.
The reports also revealed that the catfish will patiently wait in the shallow waters just to find time to snap the pigeons and will temporarily strand themselves on land for a few seconds.
Due to this behavior, the catfish are dubbed as “freshwater killer whales” due to their killer instincts.
