Well, the Green Heron is back. It is at this moment sitting on my feeder, and
has been there for the past ten minutes. Yesterday I assumed its appearance
there was just happenstance. The fact it returned suggested it had a particular
agenda, so I watched it for a while, and it soon became obvious it had every
intention of catching a bird. It carefully watched every bird which flew by,
and on occasion moved into a strike position if it thought one was going to
come closer. There is no question is actions were predatory. The other birds
recognized them as such. They wouldn't come near the heron. The only birds I
saw actually land on the feeder while the heron was present were a couple of
Black-capped Chickadees which landed behind it long enough take one seed and
fly away. Other birds flew back and forth in the foliage a few feet above the
heron, but never dared to approach the feeder. I have always considered Great
Blue Herons to be the consummate predator, capable and willing to capture and
eat almost any kind of prey, and have seen videos of Green Herons baiting fish,
but it still surprised me to see one of them hunting other birds.
Darrel
