What do poison dart frogs and the little shrikethrush have in common? Just like it’s amphibious friends, the little shrikethrush’s skin, as well as its feathers, are coated with batrachotoxins—a type of neurotoxin. While the toxin is used to dissuade predators from chowing down on the little shrikethrush, so much as coming into contact with it can have unpleasant effects too. But to clarify, the bird itself doesn’t create the toxin. It actually comes from its diet of beetles that carry the stuff. So it's deadly by association.
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