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I recently photographed a Great Egret as it foraged in a freshly irrigated field.
I see egrets fairly often in those parks in the Tucson area that have ponds or man-made streams. In those settings the egrets hunt by standing motionless, either in shallow water or water’s edge, as they wait for unwary prey such as small fish or amphibians to come within striking reach. When that happens, the egrets uncoil their necks with lightning speed and seize the prey with their long, forceps-like beaks.
This egret behaved differently. It walked very slowly, patrolling ground that was covered with two or three centimeters of water, or simply muddy. Occasionally, it would lunge at the ground or the water’s surface, quickly swallow, and keep walking. I wondered why the egret was not using its customary hunting style.
I’m certain that the answer to my question was that this egret was pursuing a different type of prey. It was not hunting aquatic life, but rather, small invertebrates — insects, arachnids, or perhaps, worms — that had been forced to the surface by the irrigation water.
The egret’s changed tactics are evidence of the bird’s adaptability. Here it was, in the middle of southern Arizona’s farms and miles from the nearest pond, hunting successfully in a way that most observers wouldn’t consider to be typical for this species. The episode is additional reminder that birds often are far more intelligent than we give them credit for being.
Image made with a Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, M setting (auto ISO), ISO 400 (first image), 500 (second image), f5.6 @ 1/4000.
Sonoran Images 