I did observe an entire flock of white-faced ibis (same order as night-herons: Ciconiiformes) land in the center of a deep lake, joining a communal roost of gulls. They seemed very uncomfortable and almost immediately took off again.
Nick Komar Fort Collins CO Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 7, 2014, at 12:53 PM, Joe Roller <[email protected]> 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/CAJpZcUBPSvAdV1_20aKqJiKnMirJSq-FryJ7n6nUe1ByDb7j4w%40mail.gmail.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- 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/017D1F1C-1ED0-47CD-9C42-79EDC003F2B9%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
