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Comments & ID Thoughts
I believe this is an Bold Jumper, Phidippus audax, found on top of my red Ford Edge car, but want to be sure. It isn't normally seen in Oregon, but has been spotted here in the Willamette Valley before (I'm from Eugene, OR). Any help would be appreciated. Also, I have remarkable video I recorded of a larger one attacking a BC Chickadee hatch-ling---I would like to confirm that is the same spider. Anyone ever hear of one doing this before? Check this video out:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/je0ixj60g2s3xiy/Chicadee-2017-SpiderAttack.mp4?dl=0
If you're interested, check out the links to the rest of my bird nesting videos as well as the live USTREAM of the birdhouses this season, and follow them in USTREAM.
LIVE 24/7 USTREAM LINK SHOWING NESTING ACTIVIES OF TWO BIRDHOUSES:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ray-s-swallow-birdhouse-webcam
LINK TO RECORDED VIDEOS OF NESTING ACTIVIES: (can be viewed and/or downloaded)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/igcfuf5suws6khi/AABEE-tLBNblsOl2TDWnPsmya?dl=0
--Ray
Eugene, OR, USA
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Apr 11, 2018
- Photographed: Apr 10, 2018
- Spider: Phidippus audax (Bold Jumper)
- Location: Eugene, Oregon, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
Jun 6, 2019
Jun 5, 2019
Pawling, 
your right about the species
poor baby bird, I like spiders but it sort of got instant karma when mum showed up. Most jumping spider species will take on prey bigger than themselves, never seen it like that though most don’t have a camera in the nest to observe good catch.
Thanks for the comments! See the links I included on my reply to ItsyBitsy as well…
Wow, that’s interesting. Thank you for sharing. Some spiders can prey on small birds but I’ve not seen a a Jumping Spider do that before (I don’t specialize in them though). Usually it’s big orb-weavers or tarantulas I see with birds, or some cobweb spiders I’ve seen (usually Widows) successfully take on similarly large prey like snakes and rodents. I wonder how that would have ended if Mom hadn’t shown up and how that baby bird is going to do now that it was apparently bit? Did follow up video show whether or not the baby was doing well? There’s… Read more »
Thanks for the comments. This spider picture was taken off the red hood of my car a few weeks ago, but the spider attack video was recorded last year. The hatchling died the next day after being bit. That poor chickadee mom had a rough year: 1. She laid 7 eggs, only 4 of which survived. She had help from her mate in building the nest but 2 days after laying the eggs the male mate was killed by our new cat at the time Springer (a wonderful Manx but incredible hunter–I then promptly found a birds-be-safe cat collar that… Read more »
Poor birds! I live in Springfield and I have seen these spiders in my flower beds along the house line, in my house and on my patio. I have even had one in my car, which almost caused me to wreck. Scared my friend and me to death. It was on the dash and coming straight for us. We had to pull over and exit the vehicle. Then had a good laugh on how ridiculous we were being. However, we didn’t get back into the car until the spider was removed. :0) I have seen them all times of the… Read more »
Thanks for the comment…and yes they are not only common here in Oregon but all over the world. P. audax belongs to the jumping spider Family Salticidae, which is the largest family of spiders. They are an amazing spider with incredible vision and skills at both hunting and courtship and if you look at them up close they’re actually quite beautiful. While it’s true they have been known to sometime prey on SMALL vertebrates…you’re too big for them and their venom is not harmful to humans—though you still wouldn’t want to get bit. But that’s unlikely and not worth getting… Read more »
For those viewing this old post, here are new updated links (the old ones no longer work): This was indeed positively identified as the jumping spider Phidippus audax. The video I recorded of a P. audax attacking-biting a young chickadee hatchling in 2017 is something that had never been recorded on video previously. You now can view it in the PlayList on my YouTube channel “Bird Nests Eugene”: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyLFEprEFKWLiDp05lJBaA As a result of that video, I was asked to co-author a paper on “Vertebrate-eating jumping spiders” which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Arachnology, and I’ve learned… Read more »