Re: Strange Blue Heron Behavior
Darius Ecker (dariuse@abs.net)
Tue, 3 Nov 1998 06:48:14 -0500
Hi Jeff,
The Stokes Nature Guides - "A Guide to Bird Behavior - Volume 3", by Donald
and Lillian Stokes describes the behavior we saw.
"Upright Visual display - bird stands tall with head and neck stretched
strait at 45 degree angle. Most common during feeding, when each bird
defends its own territory or personal space. A bird does this as a first
warning to an intruder.
Bent Neck - Body is horizontal and neck is bent with head pulled back as if
ready to strike out. Birds may walk rapidly toward the intruder with wings
open. The most aggressive display, attack is imminent. Done on the feeding
grounds or at the nest."
After reading this, it seemed to me that it's more likely the displays we
saw were the two Great Blue Herons displaying against each other, defending
their feeding territory. Since I only saw the "upright" display a couple of
times, and they were mostly doing the "bent neck" display, the most
aggressive display perhaps they were about to fight. I suppose it could
have been a mated pair defending against the geese, since the activity
seemed to start when the geese flew in. I didn't see if the display started
when the second heron flew in, or if the second heron flying in just
happened at the same time the geese flew over.
I'd love to hear opinions on if what I've written above is correct. I've
never seen this type of display before in Great Blue Herons. It was
facinating to watch. If I'd only carried my camera. Sigh.....
Good Birding,
Darius Ecker (dariuse@abs.net)
Columbia, Maryland USA
"You almost never find what you set out to see, but you can always
find something amazing."
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey A. Friedhoffer <jfried997@cwixmail.com>
To: mdosprey@ARI.Net <mdosprey@ARI.Net>
Date: Monday, November 02, 1998 9:14 PM
Subject: Strange Blue Heron Behavior
>On Sunday 1 November, at Centennial Lake, a group of Howard County Birders
>observed unusual behavior by 2 blue herons. The herons were on the lake
>within about 50 feet of each other. Several flocks of canada geese flew
over
>the lake, the herons looked up at the geese, with one heron lifting one
wing
>and the other heron lifting first one and then both wings while moving
around
>in circles. They kept this up for 4 or 5 minutes until the geese finished
the
>over flight. None of the geese landed.
>
>Has anyone seen this type of behavior before? We hypothesized that the
herons
>were trying to look threatening to keep the geese away which must have
>worked..
>
>Jeff Friedhoffer
>
>