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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteKleptoparasitism is when an animal takes food another animal has already found, caught, or gathered. It can look like a dramatic chase—or a quiet trick—and it is not the same as simply eating a carcass. Birds are the most conspicuous food thieves, but documented examples also include mammals, spiders, insects, and fish.
What is kleptoparasitism?
Kleptoparasitism is the taking of food that another animal has already procured. In the classic definition, it is theft between different species, though similar food-stealing behavior can also occur within a species. The word describes how an animal gets food, not a permanent identity: a species may steal sometimes and hunt or forage for itself at other times.
Three behaviors are easy to confuse:
- Kleptoparasitism: taking food another animal already acquired, through pursuit, harassment, stealth, or displacement.
- Scavenging: eating a carcass. Unless another animal is made to lose food it had acquired, scavenging alone is not kleptoparasitism.
- Predation: catching and killing prey oneself. A predator may also steal food, but that does not make theft its only feeding strategy.
Theft is especially visible when food is being carried or eaten in the open, and it may become more likely when food is scarce. As Stanford Birds Online explains, “The term ‘piracy,’ however, is generally restricted to the harassment of one bird by another in order to force the first to give up food.” Stanford Birds Online’s essay on piracy uses the term for this familiar bird-on-bird version.
Eight animals and groups that steal food
These examples range from conspicuous aerial chases to less obvious food theft. The list includes both named species and broader groups; it does not imply that all are obligate thieves.
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1. Skuas and jaegers
Skuas and jaegers are seabirds known for chasing other birds until they surrender food. A pursued bird may drop or regurgitate its prey, which the attacker then takes. This direct pursuit is the classic image of aerial food piracy. Stanford Birds Online describes the behavior.
2. Frigatebirds
Frigatebirds harass other seabirds to make them give up food. Stanford Birds Online notes that their feathers are not very resistant to wetting, helping explain why they rely on other birds to do some of the fishing. That account helps explain their use of piracy; it does not establish that frigatebirds never catch food themselves. Read Stanford’s account of seabird piracy.
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3. Gulls
Gulls may snatch prey from other birds or pressure them to regurgitate it. Reported targets include auks, shorebirds, and other gulls. As with other bird pirates, the defining detail is that the gull takes food its target has already secured—not simply that it eats prey. Stanford Birds Online covers these forms of piracy.
4. Spotted hyenas
Spotted hyenas hunt as well as obtain food by stealing kills. A 2013 review in the Journal of Animal Ecology reports, citing Honer and colleagues’ 2002 work, that 20% of the carcasses spotted hyenas fed on were obtained through kleptoparasitism. The figure is a share of carcasses they fed on—not 20% of all their food or calories. The 2013 review provides the reported statistic and its attribution.
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5. Fork-tailed drongos
Fork-tailed drongos can use false alarm calls to make birds or small mammals abandon food, then take the food left behind. This is indirect theft: rather than overpowering a food-holder, the drongo’s call prompts the target to flee. The behavior is described in a review of kleptoparasitism; it is best understood as a food-acquisition tactic, without assuming human-like motives. The review discusses drongo food theft.
6. A kleptoparasitic spider: Curimagua bayano
The spider Curimagua bayano has been reported as apparently obligately kleptoparasitic—apparently obtaining all of its food this way. “Apparently” matters: the review’s wording is qualified, so it is more accurate to present this as a reported specialization than an unquestionable rule for the species. The review identifies the spider and qualifies the claim.
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7. Bees and wasps
Kleptoparasitism is also documented among bees and wasps. These are group-level examples rather than a single, fully described insect vignette: the cited overview identifies hymenopteran examples but does not establish one shared method or victim for all bees and wasps. The overview includes insect examples.
8. Western buffalo bream
The western buffalo bream (Kyphosus cornelii) appears as a fish example in a peer-reviewed overview of kleptoparasitism. The source establishes it as a documented example but does not provide enough detail here to describe its theft method or target, so those specifics should not be guessed. The overview includes the fish example.
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How food theft works
For a quick comparison, the best distinction is the method and the evidence available—not a ranking of which animal is the “best” thief.
| Example | What is taken | Reported method |
|---|---|---|
| Skuas and jaegers | Prey held by another bird | Chase or harassment until prey is dropped or regurgitated |
| Frigatebirds | Food held by another seabird | Harassment |
| Gulls | Prey held by other birds | Snatching or forcing regurgitation |
| Spotted hyenas | Carcasses | Kleptoparasitic acquisition; the cited review does not specify a single method in the reported statistic |
| Fork-tailed drongos | Food abandoned by birds or small mammals | False alarm calls that prompt abandonment |
| Curimagua bayano | Food acquired by another animal | Not stated in the cited review summary |
| Bees and wasps | Not stated for the group in the cited overview | Not stated for the group in the cited overview |
| Western buffalo bream | Not stated in the cited overview | Not stated in the cited overview |
Do hyenas steal kills from lions?
They can obtain food through kleptoparasitism, but the evidence cited here does not establish that every such theft is from a lion, or that hyenas mainly live by taking lion kills. The 20% figure applies only to the carcasses spotted hyenas fed on that were obtained by kleptoparasitism; it does not identify lions as the source of every carcass or measure the share of the hyenas’ total diet.
Are all kleptoparasites full-time food thieves?
No. The term covers a way of acquiring food, and theft may be occasional or one part of a broader diet. Even apparently specialized cases should retain their source’s qualifications: the spider Curimagua bayano, for example, is described as apparently obligately kleptoparasitic. The available examples do not support treating all eight entries as obligate thieves.
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