Very interesting, Joe, and thanks for the naturalist info. I've never seen a swimming BCNH, but here is a Google image of one, looking very duck-like. http://ronreznick.photoshelter.com/image/I0000x5z8Qm2fQlk
Good find! Tom Wilberding Boulder, CO On Sunday, September 7, 2014 12:53:34 PM UTC-6, Joe Roller wrote: > > 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/e5eb227c-b9bd-4a4e-aa3f-d88afc7e72a4%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
