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- Title
Great Blue Heron forages for fish by bill-vibrating.
- Authors
COMBS, BLANTON P.
- Abstract
The more than 60 species in the family Ardeidae (herons, egrets, and bitterns) are known to be very creative at catching prey. Kushlan (1978) describes a total of 38 feeding behaviors for this family. Each species uses several feeding methods, but only 6 species, or about 10% of the family, are known to attract fish by vibrating their bills in water, a technique first described by Buckley and Buckley (1968). This makes bill-vibrating one of the least common feeding tactics in Ardeidae. On 10 May 2019, I observed and photographed an adult Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) foraging by bill-vibrating at a large pond in Dead Horse Ranch State Park, near Cottonwood, Arizona. Bill-vibrating has not previously been reported in this species.
- Subjects
FORAGE fishes; HERONS; ADULTS; PARKS; FORAGE; PONDS; SPECIES
- Publication
Western North American Naturalist, 2021, Vol 81, Issue 2, p280
- ISSN
1527-0904
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3398/064.081.0213