I have been stopping by Grasmere Lake, the southern water body in Washington Park, at Downing and Louisiana, almost daily for a couple of weeks, counting American White Pelicans as their numbers grow - from 4 to 21, now plateauing around 19-21.
While there this morning I saw an adult Black-crowned Night Heron (hereafter BCNH) floating on the water! It took me a while to figure out what family this bird was in, let alone species. It was somewhat loon-like, but the thick dagger bill, black crown and gray wings convinced me otherwise. The body was held horizontally, the bill parallel to the water. I watched it for a minute, as it floated, not fishing or swimming. I ran around the south end to get a better look, and by that time it had resumed its normal vertical or hunched position on branches at the water's edge near it's 3 or 4 off-spring. I looked it up: This from the *Florida Natualist,* Fall, 1973, James Kushlan: Five feeding methods have been previously described for the species: Stand and Wait* & Walk Slowly being the most common; Bill-vibrating, standing in shallow water while rapidly vibrating the bill at the surface, (Stone, 1937; Drinkwater, 1958); Hovering, flying in place above the surface and catching prey without settling into the water (Meyerriecks. 1960); and * Swimming- feeding, alighting on the water and catching prey while afloat (Wetmore, 1920). * In this article, Kushlan describes "plunge-diving" from the air as a 6th feeding behavior. Has anyone observed the floating or swimming behavior of Night-Herons? Intriguing, I thought. * Milton - "They also serve who only stand and wait." Joe Roller, Denver -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJpZcUBPSvAdV1_20aKqJiKnMirJSq-FryJ7n6nUe1ByDb7j4w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
