Great Blue Herons - Pictures

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Great Blue Herons - Food Habits

Great Blue Herons fish night and day. Their top activity is at dawn and dusk. Their long legs allow them to wade in shallow water. The spear-like bill serves as a very convenient tool to catch the fish. Frogs, lizards, snakes, salamanders, shrimps, crabs, dragonflies, grasshoppers and crayfish make up the basic diet of the Great Blue Heron. These birds feed mainly on small fish less than half the length of its bill.

Great Blue Herons - Fishing Techniques

The Great Blue Heron is known to have two basic fishing techniques. Standing motionless, the neck at the angle of about 45 degrees to the water surface with the head and eyes moving to locate its prey is the first efficient method the Great Blue Heron uses. At the moment when the potential meal comes close, the bird folds its neck back moving one leg toward the prey. It plunges the head into the water and catches the prey in the long bill.

The other technique means wading around in order to drive the fish out from the place it hides. When fish comes within range, the Great Blue Heron thrusts its head into the water to catch it. If the bird cannot find enough fish in the area it uses for hunting, it flies some distance away, finds another place and starts fishing over.

Sometimes, Great Blue Herons dive underwater to catch fish and some even swim underwater and feed on fish they find near the surface. However, these techniques are rather rare in Great Blue Herons.

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