Aw your no fun, it's Halloween.
Fred Collins
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 31, 2017, at 5:45 PM, Anthony Hewetson <fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Greetings All;
I don't know that this is worth this much fuss - just thought it was
interesting.
I have seen Pied-billed Grebes deal with fairly large fish - generally by
dragging it about and tearing at it until it gives up the ghost, the
American Bullfrog was probably pretty close to torpid (given recent cold
fronts) and incapable of putting up much of a fight (its struggles were
pretty much of the vocal variety - admittedly, some sounds I have never
heard from the species). I suspect the first grebe grabbed a yummy frog -
with no idea of its size - and the second one may not have been so much
cooperating with it in dismembering the frog as trying to wrest it away. I
wish I had some pictures of the interaction but it was all over in a matter
of minutes and, even had I rushed to the car to get the camera, I wouldn't
have gotten any shots. By the time the grebes made it behind some foliage,
the frog was a mess - at least one front leg torn off, the other most
likely dislocated, the hind legs feebly kicking. I have been bit by
Pied-billed Grebes before and they have sharp beaks and a pretty good grip:
I'd be willing to bet they finished the frog off.
Bottom line: given what I have seen from grebes before this wasn't so much
cooperative feeding behavior as it was attempted kleptoparasitism. Grebes
fight over food items pretty frequently and this was very consistent with
that behavior.
Whatever it was, it was a first for me but if you critter long enough you
will see new things now and then.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
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