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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/mai...aspider122.xml
Giant spider eating a bird caught on camera
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Last Updated: 3:01pm BST 22/10/2008
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The startling images were reportedly taken in Atheron, close to Queensland's tropical north.
Despite their unlikely subject matter, the pictures appear to be real.
Joel Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver.
<!--MPU BLOCKED BY PAGECLASS-->"Normally they prey on large insects… it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he told ninemsn.
Mr Shakepeare said he had seen Golden Orb Weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.
Queensland Museum identified the bird as a native finch called the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.
Mr Shakespeare told ninemsn the bird must have flown into the spider web and become stuck.
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"It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel," he said.
Greg Czechura from Queensland Museum said cases of the Golden Orb Weaver eating small birds were "well known but rare".
"It builds a very strong web," he said.
But he said the spider would not have attacked until the bird weakened.
The Golden Orb Weaver spins a strong web high in protein because it depends on it to capture large insects for food.
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They keep me down south away from the tourists and throw Chestnut-breasted Mannikin's into my cave to see if they'll fly. Not the tourists, the kids in the street. It's embarrassing. They're hard to digest and cause me stomach problems and flatulence.
