An overwhelming majority of plants depend upon birds and insects for seed dispersal.
Species of the Pisonia plant are no different.
After some time the seeds fall off, ideally when the birds had travelled to another island.
But somewhere along the Pisonias evolutionary history, something went horribly wrong.
They fall to the ground and starve to death, or get eaten by predators.
Black noddies nest on Pisonia trees in Heron Island, Queensland.
The young birds get entangled and entrapped in the sticky bunches.
Even a handful of seeds can weigh a bird down, making them unable to fly.
They fall down and eventually die of starvation, or become food for scavengers.
Seeds of Pisonia trees.
Photo:Christopheb / Dreamstime.com
Seeds of the Pisonia tree are covered by a sticky resin.
Photo:Scott Zona/Flickr
The Pisonia trees grisly behavior has a devastating effect on the bird population.
Scientists have wondered if there is any evolutionary benefit derived by the Pisonia tree by killing birds.
A wedge-tailed shearwater covered in sticky Pisonia grandis seeds in Tiam’Bouene islet, New-Caledonia.
Photo:Tristan Berr/Twitter
A white capped noddy tangled in Pisonia seeds at Heron Island, Queensland, Australia.
A fledgling brown noddy entangled with seeds across its chest and tail.
Inadvertently, this results in the death of hundreds of thousands of seabirds every year.
They also actively seek out entangled birds and carefully clean them, before putting them back in a tree.
Surprisingly, many seabirds seems to love Pisonia trees.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
