Bird eat bird

[yo13dawg]

I don't take a whole lot of bird shots, but I have never seen this type of behavior before. Maybe it thought it wasn't a bird, or maybe it was just hungry. It couldn't get it down anyway and ended up flying off.

 

[Trever1t]

Nice capture. Perhaps it was it's baby? I don't know about Herons, if they do that?

 

[yo13dawg]

I believe it was a dead Grebe. Yea I am unsure if this is normal behavior or not.

 

[Austin Greene]

Its not your average behavior, but it is fairly normal for birds to eat one another under certain circumstances, and even cannibalize young in some cases.

Bottom line? A meal is a meal, and in many cases the easier the better

Also, fantastic shot!

 

[WesternGuy]

Great images, a little gruesome, but that's nature. Great Blue Herons will eat just about anything - it doesn't surprise me in the least that it would try and eat a Grebe. There is even a case documented, somewhere, of one eating a small rabbit. Just curious where this was taken.

WesternGuy

 

[Forkie]

As WesternGuy said, Herons will eat just about anything that crosses their path! I've seen a Grey Heron eat a vole!

Nice capture!

 

[cgipson1]

I haven't actually seen the eating habits like this.. although it doesn't surprise me. They are voracious and agressive eater / hunters. I actuall saw a heron kill a pelican one day! They were on a fishing pier, and tourists were feeding them scraps. The pelican was getting more food as the tourists seemed initimidated by the herons sharp beak. The heron drilled that poor pelican right between the eyes with that beak, and the pelican never knew what hit him.

I have been spiked by an egret the same way... talk about OUCH!

 

[Joel_W]

A really nice set. Educational to say the least.

 

[yo13dawg]

This was taken at the Bolsa Chica Reserve in Huntington Beach, CA.