The early bird gets the worm, but the clever heron gets most of the fish. Birds are a lot brainier than you’d think – how do you think they survived this long?
They are, after all, a dynasty that goes all the way back to the Mesozoic.
Here, a green heron showcases why birds are such remarkable animals.
Green herons are fairly common herons. You might have spotted one when out for walk if you live in any wildlife-friendly areas of the U.S.
It’s nice to see a bird once in a while that’s not a chicken or a sparrow, you know?
And seeing wading birds next to the fish is two for one sight-seeing. After seeing 500 pigeons in the city, the occasional wading bird is a nice change of scenery.
There are around 72 species of herons, but all of them might not be this smart.
They may not have the imposing, grand size of a stork, but they’re still some mighty classy-looking birds.
And when they can’t quite get a nibble from the fish, they can try more effective ways as shown here.
This heron wasn’t getting the attention of the fish, so it resorted to a brainier approach.
He took a tip from humans and started baiting them instead.
After somehow acquiring some bread, the heron dangled it within reach of the fish.
I can only guess it learned this from watching people feed the fish.
It wasn’t an instant hit with the fish, though.
But fate always rewards the patient, and all his heron had to do was wait a bit.
Maybe the fish were wary of the mere sight of the bird?
Some herons resort to more novel strategies for catching fish.
For instance, black herons shape their wings into an umbrella-like shape to cast a shadow that attracts the fish. This has been referred to as “canopy feeding.”
You might notice that herons don’t seem to stand as tall or cast as graceful a shadow as things like storks.
You’d be right – herons tend to keep their necks retracted.
So don’t expect a heron to deliver your baby to your doorstep anytime soon. That’s the stork’s job.
One fish couldn’t resist the promise of free food, so it went for it. That was its last mistake.
Next thing you know, the heron snatched up that fish as soon as its lips touched the bread. Patience pays off, as you can see.
When a heron isn’t finding any luck with fish, that doesn’t mean it has to skip meals.
They’re just as efficient at feeding on crabs and mollusks too. Even the occasional lizard will satisfy a hungry heron.
Basically, if it’s small, wriggly, twitchy, or a bit slimy, then a heron will be happy to feed on it.
But for this particular heron, his strategy should get him fish incredibly easily in the future. Let’s just hope he has a steady supply of bread.
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