From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbird/beast of preybird/beast of preyHBAa bird or animal which lives by killing and eating other animals → prey
Examples from the Corpus
bird/beast of prey• The diurnal birds of prey and the mammalian predators consistently have the highest rates of mandibular and maxillary breakage.• You will have to pass beasts, fierce beasts of prey, and they are all that you will see.• Meanwhile, the larger birds of prey were tucking into things like mice, rats, chicks and rabbits.• Many birds of prey regurgitate pellets which contain the indigestible remains of their prey, including much of the bone.• On 24 January he identified six new species of birds of prey - two of which came from the Galapagos.• In fact, the only bird of prey I ever saw hovering over the park was a kestrel.• But Men persecuted us and other birds of prey like us were poisoned, trapped and shot.• Most of Britain's birds of prey are only now recovering from this long persecution. 