Can pitcher plants also 'eat' birds and frogs?

Question

Can pitcher plants also 'eat' birds and frogs?

Answer 1

YES.

Their are many different species of pitcher plants. Most just trap & digest small insects and arthropods . However, one of the largest known species , Nepenthes rajah, has been known to

trap & digest (not "eat") small mammals,like mice ; also frogs,lizards & birds.

More details below:

". rajah is known to occasionally trap vertebrates and even small mammals. Drowned rats have been observed in the pitchers of N. rajah. It is one of only two Nepenthes species documented as having caught mammalian prey in the wild, the other being N. rafflesiana. N. rajah is also known to occasionally trap other small vertebrates, including frogs, lizards and even birds, although these cases probably involve sick animals and certainly do not represent the norm. Insects, and particularly ants, comprise the majority of prey in both aerial and terrestrial pitchers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthes_r...