What Qualities give a tarantula the title bird eater

[Nebs Tarantulas]

Right! That

Makes a person wonder...how many little birds passed by that 9in P.rufilata or ornata in the Indian subcontinent,and were grabbed mid flight..

always goes by mine, some pokies are so fast and big I don’t doubt it for a second!

 

[Stardust1986]

If im not mistaken the term bird eater is a misconception that summarizes the Ts massive size.

The blondi is the most true goliath bird eater, I keep the stirmi because of its easier care requirments

 

[viper69]

Some Ts have been known to eat ostrich, I think that's the how the phrase arose.

 

[Ceymann]

you might as well question why you call an entire family of spiders very much distinct from true spiders after one species?

Lycosa tarantula, a Wolfspider

also for us german speaking folk, they are all called "Vogelspinne" meaning bird-spider not tarantula
as dave mentioned above it was based on the observations of a lady and the associated depictions she brought back with her

+1
This is how it was explained to me long ago that the term was derived from the German word
"vogelspinne"
in regards to the classic naturalist print of what looks like avicularia predating on birds.

Thats the problem with common names, because while same say it only applies to terrestrial south American spiders, there are many who refer to some of the OWs as "bird eaters" ex. Chinese bird eater

 

[USNGunner]

Its a term loosely applied to what basically amounts to:

Any south american terrestrial that gets to, or exceeds 5" DLS.

Well, that's what I thought until I just saw N. Incei listed as a "bird spider". Huh? In what? Smurf world? LOL

 

[YungRasputin]

while doing research i’ve heard Selenocosmia Crassipes called an “Australian Bird Eater” and there’s several species of asiatic arboreals who’ve been called “Bat Eaters” and also several baboon species called “Bird Eaters” or “Bird Spiders” - i don’t think it’s something NW specific and it’s probably related to misconceptions about the T’s with respect to their size, speed, etc