bird-eating spiders

The name 'bird eating spiders' commonly describes several groups of different spiders.

In Australia, the Pacific and Asia, it refers to two types of spiders. First, there are the "Golden Orb Web Spiders", which do indeed occasionally catch small birds in their large webs.

Then there are also the ground dwelling 'barking spiders' which live in tropical woodlands and grasslands. They are often very large spiders, but since they live on the ground, it is rare that they actually catch birds. The best place I have found to see these huge spiders are in the limestone caves just outside of Alotau, Papua New Guinea.