Hooded Pitou
(Pitohui dichrous)

Found in the rainforests of New Guinea, the Hooded Pitohui holds a remarkable and unsettling distinction — it is one of the only known poisonous birds in the world. Its feathers and skin contain batrachotoxin, the same powerful neurotoxin found in poison dart frogs, which causes numbness and tingling on contact. The bird acquires the toxin through its diet of melyrid beetles, and local hunters have long known to handle it with care — giving it the nickname "rubbish bird" for being too dangerous to eat!