Greetings,

On Sunday (March 12th) I watched an American Bittern capture and eat a rough-skinned newt at Nisqually NWR (in the wetland adjacent to the dike trail near the photo blind trail). Unfortunately, the group that I was with did not have the patience to wait and watch so that we could determine the birds fate (rough-skinned newts contain a powerful neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the skin and are fatally toxic to all the vertebrates tested except the garter snakes). So, it may have died, it may regurgitated the newt after we left and survived or it may have survived and not regurgitated the newt (I doubt it!). I did a quick glance at the literature and could not find a single example of a bird surviving after ingesting a newt. Common garter snakes appear to have some resistance and newt toxicity appears to vary somewhat by population. But even newt populations with lower toxicity have enough toxins to kill just about any vetebrate. Birds have even died after eating a garter snake that ingested a rough skinned newt! Birds appear to survive if they regurgitate the newt. Have others observed this phenomenon?

Scott

Scott Pearson, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North
Olympia, WA 98501-1091
360-902-2524