Regarding the part about the juvenile GBH stabbing at the hand: I don't know if
bullfrogs' skins are tougher or weaker than humans, but I watched and
photographed a GBH stabbing it's bill clean through a big one repeatedly last
summer. Sometimes the bill was closed, sometimes open.
Frank
in Monmouth
On 9/25/2021 11:03 PM, Range Bayer wrote:
Hi,*******
Roy, great photos and details in your observations!
Some hasty comments because I short on time ...
* Note there have been reported cases of a bleeding heron and once of a likely GBH mortality
from GBH fighting ("Extreme Aggression in Great Blue Herons" at
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v096n02/p0318-p0319.pdf ;
<https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v096n02/p0318-p0319.pdf>)
* Roy took these photos in exceptional light that some observers may quickly assume to
be blood from the fight. But the large amount of "cinnamon" ((blood) colored
feathers on 2 areas on the leading edge of the wings, legs , and front of neck with white
background are normal in adults (not young of the year) --like many birds GBH's are more
colorful the closer one gets to them. During GBH displays with the wings out the red on
the wings shows up but is not very visible during cursory looks when the wings are more
tucked in.
Re: red on wings--I have received telephone calls from very concerned birders
that they saw GBH's that were bleeding when in discussion, it turned out the
observer was seeing the normal cinnamon- colored plumage.
* I don't see blood on the bills or in the plumage of either GBH, so I wonder about
the seriousness of any physical injury in this particular interaction. I see
occasional feathers on the bill. Roy has many more photos and can enlarge them to
look more closely. To my eyes in these photos, I see GBH's mostly grasping the
other bird around the neck, but
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51516907936/in/album-72157719958948405/ ;
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51516907936/in/album-72157719958948405/>
looks like a perhaps direct stabbing the in the body and some seem to show direct
stabs in the wings.
How effective these stabs were in penetrating the skin is unclear.
I tried to rehab some juv GBH's and was sloppy handling them, and twice I was
face to face to an unsecured juvenile that could have struck me in the face,
instead
1) one grabbed my wristwatch band and twisted it sidewise
2) another stabbed me with a slightly gaping bill in the back of my bony
hand--it didn't penetrate the skin but it left marks that I measured--GBH's
typically forage and strike at fish with a slightly gape between
mandibles--that could help increase their foraging success because 2 separated
points cover a larger strike area than single point--I think the distance is in
my paper cited below.
* Re: "... great blues will lower a wing to look larger to an adversary. ..." In Roy's last photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51517623804/in/album-72157719958948405/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51517623804/in/album-72157719958948405/>), the GBH is giving a stereotypical display called the "Spread-wings" display generally given by GBH's with feeding territories but that can be given to people and other birds also (Foraging Ground Displays of Great Blue Herons at Yaquina Estuary, Oregon. R. D. Bayer. Colonial Waterbirds Vol. 7 (1984), pp. 45-54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521081 <https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521081>; my paper about GBH Vocalizations including the "song" of the GBH at foraging grounds that appears nearly identical to one sometimes given at nests, see https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521080 <https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521080>). TNote that besides the Spread-wings, the back feathers are partially erected and the head is partially pointed skyward (the closer they come together the higher the bill is pointed up in my experience) o also see more about this in freely accessible, see GBH species account in Birds of World (formerly North America) and Ron Dudley's "Aggressive Great Blue Herons – “Upright And Spread Wing Display”" at https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2019/09/26/aggressive-great-blue-herons-upright-and-spread-wing-display/ <https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2019/09/26/aggressive-great-blue-herons-upright-and-spread-wing-display/>
* I am grateful that Roy includes notes of his observations of birds of other
species reacting and even approaching and watching the battling herons (see
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51516105032/in/album-72157719958948405/ ;
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/51516105032/in/album-72157719958948405/>.
If one believes that birds are hard-wired to forage, then why get involved with
other species involved in aggressive behavior where there is nothing for other
species to get involved?
I still remember a puzzling situation during my GBH research when 2 Whimbrels
were battling and birds of other species (including a GBH as I recall)
approached them very closely and it kind of looked like they were trying to
discourage the combatants. My notes on this are not accessible.
Roy, thanks so much for sharing these photos with us!
Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: *Roy Lowe* <roy.loweiii@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:roy.loweiii@xxxxxxxxx>>
Date: Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 6:01 PM
Subject: [obol] Great Blue Heron Battle
To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
On Thursday morning I visited Cape Foulweather to check on the status of molt in harlequin ducks. When I first arrived I didn’t see any harlequins. I noted two great blue herons in the intertidal zone to the north and decided I’d work my way there to see if I could get some photos of one of them capturing a cool food item. My attention got diverted to a black oystercatcher that had just secured a very large limpet or similar invertebrate. After shooting some photos I moved on to a flock of roosting gulls where I found a couple of Heermann’s gulls present. While looking at the gulls suddenly every crow (>25) in the area launched into the air in panic mode. I immediately looked up to see which way the bald eagle was approaching from but to my surprise the commotion was due to a fight between the two herons. I immediately began taking photos and continued throughout the fight, which was apparently a foraging territory battle. The intensity of the fight was phenomenal with the birds standing and laying on top of one another while jabbing their bills into the wings and bodies of their opponent, biting necks, etc. When one tried to escape the other would knock it down and the fight would renew. The battle lasted for 2 minutes and 20 seconds, but it seemed much longer while viewing the action. Throughout the fight crows circled the herons and landed adjacent to them. In my photos I also noted individual black oystercatchers flying back and forth in the background. I guess like me the birds were interested and intrigued by the scene. When the fight broke up the apparent loser walked my way and passed fairly close by. Its’ right wing was drooping down with the outer primaries dragging on the ground. I initially thought the wing was injured and it may have been, but great blues will lower a wing to look larger to an adversary. I took 155 photos and would have taken a few more had I not hit my camera buffer several times. It was an AWESOME experience that I won’t forget. I posted some photos of the battle in the order they were taken. It may be difficult to determine the contortions in some of the photos. You can find the photos here: ____https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/albums/72157719958948405 <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/albums/72157719958948405>
Oh yeah, I did a find a few target harlequins afterwards.
Roy Lowe____
Waldport, OR
