Caterpillars of moths and butterflies feed on the leaves, and are in turn eaten by frogs and birds. Life in the canopy is very noisy with animals calling to keep in contact, to pass on alarms, or to issue territorial threats. Canopy animals are adapted to life in their tree top habitat. Parrots use strong claws and beaks to clamber among the twigs. Sloths hang from branches by their claws as they feed on leaves.
Spider monkeys use their tails as a fifth limb to swing through the branches.
They are vital to the forest's ecology, for together with fungi and bacteria they break down dead material into substances plants. This recycling of the forest's nutrients is particularly important because many of the rain forest soils are very poor in minerals required for plant growth. Animals feed upon these plants and decomposers further up the food chain. At the top end of the food chain are the large predators. Leopards hunt birds and monkeys in the lower canopy and deer on the forest floor.