Giant Meals

[yourlibrarian]

We were having lunch one day when we looked out the window and realized a heron was about to chow down too. Unfortunately the fish it had caught seemed to be stuck. We were fascinated to see when we saw this photo that apparently it spears the fish through the gills. If you look closely you can see via the fish's throat that the heron's bill is all the way through.





So it was attempting to shake the fish off the bill so that it could grab its head instead.



The heron finally got the fish into position and in it went in one go! I have no idea what kind of digestive system it has that it can just deal with all portions of a fish like that (the heron is big but that fish was not small!) Does it poop the skeleton out? The head?







Also as someone who always ends up wearing their meals, I was amused that the lake weed caught on the fish was still hanging out of the heron's mouth.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I wonder if herons have gizzards to help grind up the fish bones.

thank you for this awesome photoessay.

[yourlibrarian]

I believe they do -- must be very effective given the comment below about small alligators also being on the menu.

[shirebound]

My goodness, what a huge meal!

Your first photo looks like a painting. I like it.

[yourlibrarian]

Glad you liked them!

[redbird]

That is an impressively large fish for that size of bird.

[yourlibrarian]

Right? I can't imagine how it even speared it.

[adafrog]

Oh wow. Thanks!

[yourlibrarian]

You're welcome!

crazy thing about a pelican, its beak can hold more than its belly can

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing.

Re: crazy thing about a pelican, its beak can hold more than its belly can

[yourlibrarian]

Huh! I've seen them try for some really big things too -- how do they handle it? If it was, say, multiple fish I can imagine they might keep some in their beak pouch until the first ones were processed.

[weofodthignen]

Wow. That should last him or her at least 3 hours ...

[kaishin108]

Ha hah!

[yourlibrarian]

Hee!

[rodo]

Just the thought of gulping down something as large as my mouth gives me indigestion. Kudos to you, heron.

[yourlibrarian]

Seriously, the way many animals process their food, they clearly have superior digestive systems.

[cmcmck]

Quite a helping!

[yourlibrarian]

Indeed!

[lizardjay]

Wow!! This is really exciting to see. That poor fish, having to wait like that :D

[yourlibrarian]

I know, bad enough that it had that ending but the waiting and carrying about makes it even worse.

[julian]

Niiiice pictures. (And what a lot of fish!)

[yourlibrarian]

There are some very large ones in that lake.

[chestnut_pod]

Dang. I would be surprised if that heron could fly away afterwards!

[yourlibrarian]

Well it was able to fly with the fish in its beak so I imagine it would be less difficult in its stomach 😉

[pauraque]

Wonderful pics! Great Blue Herons are known for swallowing improbably large meals, including smaller herons and juvenile alligators. My understanding is that they digest everything, including bones.

[yourlibrarian]

Alligators and other herons, yikes!

[nanila]

What a moment to have captured! Thank you for sharing.

[yourlibrarian]

Glad to -- it was an unexpected accompaniment to our own meal 😄

[semielliptical]

Wow! Great series of photos.

[yourlibrarian]

Glad you enjoyed them!

[kaishin108]

And gulp!!! Wow, that was something for you to see. And thank you for the great photos. That must be some digestive track Herons have. :D

And did you have fish for lunch too? giggle

[yourlibrarian]

Ha! I don't think we did that day, but boy our meal sure looked tiny by comparison 😉

[turlough]

What a fantastic photo sequence!!

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks!

A Technical Q

[jesse_the_k]

how did you manage to capture this most excellent series.

Were you already set up on herons in the neighborhood when this one starts the star turn? How far away are you?

Re: A Technical Q

[yourlibrarian]

Our apartment faces a lake and the heron was right outside the window lakeside. So we went out on our balcony to get a clearer view (no window or screen) and just kept taking pictures until the fish was gone 🙂

Re: A Technical Q

[jesse_the_k]

Perfect setup!