Giant Green Anemone eats sea bird

The baby cormorant was found head first in the creature's mouth

This is the moment an anemone devoured an unfortunate seabird.

The predatory sea creatures are well-known for their gaping slit-like mouths, surrounded by tentacles and filled with venom, but their usual targets are small fish, crabs and mussels.

However, occasionally their appetite demands something more substantial.

This Giant Green Anemone is seen feasting on a baby cormorant, off the coast of Oregon, United States.

A report published in Marine Ornithology said it was unclear whether the chick was alive or dead when it ended up in the anemone’s jaws. It is thought it could have been dropped from the skies by another predator like the Bald Eagle, or knocked out of its nest.

The chick was in a state of rigor mortis but showed no sign of decay when it was discovered on 24 July 2013, suggesting that it had died no more than two days before.

It is not the first time an anemone has shown a taste for fowl. In 2003, a Giant Green Anemone was observed demolishing a gull, leaving only its leg exposed.