When I was a youth, we were feeding the ducks at a pond. One of these herons was there. Never having seen one before, we tossed it some bread. The heron picked up the bread and put it in the water. Using the bread as bait, it caught six fish, the sixth being too big for it to swallow. It readjusted the bread between every fish to keep it in just the right spot.
I saw one do that with a big beef rib it took from the garbage. It ran the bone with some meat on it to the water and dropped it in and then waited watching over it. These birds are very clever.
what sticks out to me in the way the bird eats is how similar it is to reptiles/snakes. like when a pelican swallows a duck in one gulp, it's not so obvious b/c its beak is gigantic. and raptors pick pieces off their prey. but this little guy looked like it had to disengage his jaw to get that gopher(?) into its gullet.
The first time I saw a heron I was a child. I was out in the woods exploring a stream and stumbled upon a blue heron. It was taller than I was. I didn't even know they existed at the time, so it was a surprise to see such a large bird up close.
Spectacular! National Geo just gets its money shot and goes home. Jim stays the course. Not sure I would want to be a bloated black-crowned night-heron, but I like watching one get there. This species and the yellow-crowned are so interesting in their patient, deliberate ways.
I remember a couple years ago I saw one grab a beef rib from the garbage and run it to the water and it dropped it for bait. It then watched it presumably waiting for a crawdad or small fish. I’ve been a fan of them ever since.
These Black-Crowned Night Herons are very smart birds. You see videos of them baiting and catching fish. This was some excellent videography. It was very impressive how you stayed with the bird, and kept focus, no matter where it went.
Thanks. I saw one once take a rib bone with some meat on it out of the garbage and run it too a nearby pond and drop it in the water. It then waited over it. I assume it was using that as bait for crayfish or fish. I agree that they are surprisingly smart.
You got to admire the patience of the bird. Rip gopher. It's not easy out there, but in your own way you're helping preserve our wonderful ecosystem by keeping these birds and others fed b
Yeah I agree. I probably have over a hundred videos of herons eating gophers and Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons nearly always use their dagger like bill. This night heron probably just doesn’t have enough weight to pull it off. They are probably a third of the weight of a great blue just throwing out a wild guesstimate.
Yeah we used to sing that on the bus to summer recreation. Ten tons of Greasy grimy gopher guts, little birdie turdy feel, pulverized monkey’s meat, and I forgot my spoon. (Or something like that). I thought about using that as a reference awhile ago but I didn’t think anyone would know what it was about.
Yeah I agree and the stakes are high. If they miss too many chances, they may not survive. I’ve seen this bird for at least 2 years and it is real bulky and strong so I think it takes advantage of its opportunities.
Birds are dinosaurs. Just imagine how smart T rex and other predatory dinosaurs really were. They were likely as smart as ravens and herons and likely could use tactics such as baiting prey.
The way this bird hunts on the ground, it's like watching a big cat hunt its prey. The stealth and the patience, I'm amazed that this is a bird doing all of this. What a vicious predator.
HE NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT HIM, WOW. BUT DAT BIRD'S MEAT IS TUFF OR MAYBE THE PERSON DAT COOKED DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOIN, IT WAS LIKE CHEWIN A BASEBALL MITT. ( 3 )
Me: Dinosaurs are extinct A Rodent: Have you seen this thing? Seriously though, it always impresses me how they can keep their heads entirely motionless whilst the rest of the body moves!
Wow. Impressive that it could swallow that critter whole like that. Also impressive to get the whole thing on camera considering the bird was flying around. Good job.
I had the impression that it actually stabbed this gopher. In every other capture I’ve seen with this heron, it grabbed the gopher. I think it has a very sharp bill but I suspect it was trying to grab it but inadvertently speared it. Many times the gopher is feeding on plants from its burrow pulling the plants down by their roots. The herons can break right through this shallow soil and snatch them right out of their burrow. I’ve watched great blue herons do this hundred(s) of times but obviously this bird is much smaller so it is not as easy for it to do that. It was just my impression so I’m not sure. I did edit out some of the gopher struggle so it took about twice as long in real life to subdue that gopher.
OMG!,I know this place well, my dad flew his electric airplanes with his friends there, it's also the last time I seen him alive. My name is Bicycle Bob and I approved this message and I saw egrets doing this there.
Yeah you are right. It is very close to the model airplanes. Usually it is a Great Blue Heron or a Great Egret I see hunting here but I was quite happy to watch this heron.
Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, wie groß die Brocken sind, die ein Vogel als Ganzes verschlucken kann. Man mag sich kaum vorstellen, daß solche Mengen auf einmal durch einen Schnabel passen.
Thanks. Danke schoen. My brother in law showed the video at a large party. The women screamed when the gopher was swallowed. I would have thought they would scream at the capture or choking but no, only at the swallowing.
We have hoards of great blue herons and few "great white" herons at our Rouge Park River Area. The great white or tri colors might be color variations of the great blue but they make the most "reptilian croaking, chattering calls". The great white egrets are a different species way more south of me and are more decorated with feathers.
I was in Detroit last fall. Here in California we have Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. I do have videos of both types eating gophers and other things too. They are both amazing in their own way.
Yeah it seems to like some long grass but not too much. On the other section of the park, I see them hunting on short grass (hunting bugs) I haven’t seen this particular heron for a month or so but I’ll keep looking.
There was a tree near to where I used to live and these guys roosted there. The white washed cars that parked under that tree were basically totaled IMO.
When the heron let go of it, the gopher seemed to already be fatally wounded, but the snatch was so quick, I couldn't see what caused the injury. Did the bird stab it with its beak in the beginning?
Yeah I think it did. I think it was probably accidental because this bird usually grabs and chokes but it looked to me in a slowed version that it pierced the neck in a pretty vital spot.
What did it do in the initial strike to incapacitate the gopher? Does it shake the prey in order to break its neck? It looks like it couldn't suffocate it. Nice catch by the way (of the heron's behaviour).
I think in this case this bird inadvertently pierced the gopher in the throat. It’s hard to see and I’m not sure but I did look at it multiple times and slowed way down. That is why I think the gopher was wiggling so much at the beginning. The bird then grabbed it by the neck and squeezed and shook it until it could be eaten.
He also goes up in the tree to eat it because if you're on the ground it'll get covered in ants and insects and everything else that will annoy you while you're trying to eat and any other bird or prey item will find you and possibly eat you also! Or at least disturb your dining pleasure!
Yeah. There was a red tailed hawk that frequently landed on some nearby power lines. I have seen the stealing from the larger herons so I am pretty sure it would steal this bird’s food too.
It's not a direct kill, so it just hold the prey around the beak and making movement to let the beak cut and the prey will eventually die through bleeding, did I get it right?
When I was a youth, we were feeding the ducks at a pond. One of these herons was there. Never having seen one before, we tossed it some bread. The heron picked up the bread and put it in the water. Using the bread as bait, it caught six fish, the sixth being too big for it to swallow. It readjusted the bread between every fish to keep it in just the right spot.
I saw one do that with a big beef rib it took from the garbage. It ran the bone with some meat on it to the water and dropped it in and then waited watching over it. These birds are very clever.
I’m glad these guys aren’t any bigger.
They’d be waiting for you to go out to the car on the way to work.
there were prehistoric creatures just like that. Look up Quetzalcoatlus. Basically a stork the size of a giraffe that could swallow a grown man whole.
I agree, the jurassic period is over.
Yeah because if they were and came after us. We’d extinct them.
There used to be Herons bigger than most men. They've been extinct since the Egyptian dynasty.
These things really are dinosaurs man.
Ufff sooo very dangerous the dinosaurs? Eh...
All birds are..
@@Omega-wi6fl That's what I mean.
what sticks out to me in the way the bird eats is how similar it is to reptiles/snakes. like when a pelican swallows a duck in one gulp, it's not so obvious b/c its beak is gigantic. and raptors pick pieces off their prey. but this little guy looked like it had to disengage his jaw to get that gopher(?) into its gullet.
Um, no … they’re birds.
This bird is what the grounds keeper in Caddyshack needed
Heron*
The gophers friend was watching him get eaten as he safely danced in the ground hole to “ I’m alriiight” 🎶
I didn’t know I’d be this enthralled watching a bird eat but here I am. Instant follow
Thanks. I like to follow these guys too😊
Heron in tree: "No, stop filming! You musn't see me like this!"
The first time I saw a heron I was a child. I was out in the woods exploring a stream and stumbled upon a blue heron. It was taller than I was. I didn't even know they existed at the time, so it was a surprise to see such a large bird up close.
Birds make dinosaurs even more terrifying
Spectacular! National Geo just gets its money shot and goes home. Jim stays the course. Not sure I would want to be a bloated black-crowned night-heron, but I like watching one get there.
This species and the yellow-crowned are so interesting in their patient, deliberate ways.
I remember a couple years ago I saw one grab a beef rib from the garbage and run it to the water and it dropped it for bait. It then watched it presumably waiting for a crawdad or small fish. I’ve been a fan of them ever since.
“Hungry Heron Hunts for Hearty Meal”
Just like watching a guy eat a Double Quarter Pounder without anything to drink. 😂
.....in one bite!
Stormy Daniels competition .
I’m glad the gopher and the bird became good friends and decided to move in and learn to fly from the inside
Amazing how the head zooms ahead and remains totally immobile waiting for the body to catch up to it.
These Black-Crowned Night Herons are very smart birds. You see videos of them baiting and catching fish. This was some excellent videography. It was very impressive how you stayed with the bird, and kept focus, no matter where it went.
Thanks. I saw one once take a rib bone with some meat on it out of the garbage and run it too a nearby pond and drop it in the water. It then waited over it. I assume it was using that as bait for crayfish or fish. I agree that they are surprisingly smart.
Heron became Russell Crowe in the movie gladiator
“are you not entertained”
You got to admire the patience of the bird. Rip gopher. It's not easy out there, but in your own way you're helping preserve our wonderful ecosystem by keeping these birds and others fed b
to tiny preys like this, dinosaurs still exists
Amazing video quality.
Thanks. It really helps that this bird lets me position myself where I want to go.
I know it’s nature but I still feel bad for the little guy
The way it holds its head still in space while moving its body puts any pop and lock dancer to shame.
Great egrets are really good at that.
Props, friend, great footage. Good to see the night-heron get its reward and the pocket gopher get its due!
I need these birds in my back lawn! Awesome footage.
Agreed. Chipmunks and moles.
I watch grey herons in a river most Sundays they have some patience standing for hours on end just waiting for a fish to come by .
Title wasn't kidding!! Thanks for sharing as us in the UK don't see either this species of heron or Gophers.
I've seen a grey heron take a Coot in the UK.
Amazing catches
Pelicans watching from afar thinking to themselves: "Hmmm, I should try this on a Capybara!"
He is strangling it. I thought he would stab it. First time I have ever seen a bird do that😂
Yeah I agree. I probably have over a hundred videos of herons eating gophers and Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons nearly always use their dagger like bill. This night heron probably just doesn’t have enough weight to pull it off. They are probably a third of the weight of a great blue just throwing out a wild guesstimate.
Looks like a Bittern, same family right enough
That's some serious stomach acid
Great capture and story telling. I learn so much from each video.
Thanks. This guy is a real interesting bird. I learned a lot watching it. It helps that it is super easy to video.
One thing is for sure.. the heron never complains about hair in it's food.
I've see this happen first hand, I still can't process it
A real true Heron (Hero) there
Huh. Now Im eyeing my parakeet suspiciously
That parakeet could do some damage to you
This brought to mind an old ditty from kidhood .At least part of it. " Greasy grimy gopher grease and guts...."😅
Yeah we used to sing that on the bus to summer recreation. Ten tons of Greasy grimy gopher guts, little birdie turdy feel, pulverized monkey’s meat, and I forgot my spoon. (Or something like that). I thought about using that as a reference awhile ago but I didn’t think anyone would know what it was about.
@@jimzenor9148 😅 What a childhood memory you bring back to me !! Thanks for your reply!!! GOD bless you! 👍 😊
I call herons cats on stilts, it’s the way they stalk their prey.
Hah. It even takes its prey into a tree, like a leopard.
I love watching nature it ain't like they could order out
Yeah I agree and the stakes are high. If they miss too many chances, they may not survive. I’ve seen this bird for at least 2 years and it is real bulky and strong so I think it takes advantage of its opportunities.
Birds are dinosaurs. Just imagine how smart T rex and other predatory dinosaurs really were. They were likely as smart as ravens and herons and likely could use tactics such as baiting prey.
Yup good job 👏 Blue Heron also is stunning
The patchy grass gives the bird cover from its prey, and the noisy environment prevents his prey from hearing him walk around. Smart bird.
Heron is not a bird but is it noisy.
The way this bird hunts on the ground, it's like watching a big cat hunt its prey. The stealth and the patience, I'm amazed that this is a bird doing all of this. What a vicious predator.
I’ve gained a lot of respect for herons in the last few years.
That's just brunch.
Pretty cool stuff ,yeah a little sad but he dispatched it quickly and efficiently,Kudos Heron
Wow, documentary film level shooting. Very interesting. Thanks!
Thanks. The heron was very cooperative that day.
HE NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT HIM, WOW. BUT DAT BIRD'S MEAT IS TUFF OR MAYBE THE PERSON DAT COOKED DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOIN, IT WAS LIKE CHEWIN A BASEBALL MITT. ( 3 )
Great video 👏🏻
Thank you!!
People fail to realize that birds can fk things up. There was a time when we humans would be on the menu.
Me: Dinosaurs are extinct
A Rodent: Have you seen this thing?
Seriously though, it always impresses me how they can keep their heads entirely motionless whilst the rest of the body moves!
Yeah keeping their head still is a super power.
Red Tail Hawk: Mmm, stuffed heron!
That little white lock hanging down the side of his head....reminds me of Vincent from "Pulp Fiction".
Yeah and the bird has a similar assassin job.
Be glad we missed the herons cousins a couple million years ago
When I see things like this it reminds me that raptors 🦖 evolved into birds 🐦
Such patience and focus❤
Отличная сьемка! Блестяще!
Thank you. I had a good bird.
Thank you for your time and efforts. Great video
My pleasure and thanks.
See my loafers, former gophers!
Skip to 2:28 for the action
Wow. Impressive that it could swallow that critter whole like that. Also impressive to get the whole thing on camera considering the bird was flying around. Good job.
That Heron is BOSS!
can you store it in your glove compartment or keep it in the trunk safely? Summer months???
If it catches you, grab its throat. I saw it in a cartoon. It works😂
It's got the look on it's face like I do when I eat too much. It looked like a robot when it kept it's head perfectly still on all axis.
Beautiful looking bird and great capture as always Jim.
Thanks. This bird is really a pleasure to watch. It is full of surprises.
Gopher didn't seem to resist much, like it snapped its neck right away or something.
I had the impression that it actually stabbed this gopher. In every other capture I’ve seen with this heron, it grabbed the gopher. I think it has a very sharp bill but I suspect it was trying to grab it but inadvertently speared it. Many times the gopher is feeding on plants from its burrow pulling the plants down by their roots. The herons can break right through this shallow soil and snatch them right out of their burrow. I’ve watched great blue herons do this hundred(s) of times but obviously this bird is much smaller so it is not as easy for it to do that. It was just my impression so I’m not sure. I did edit out some of the gopher struggle so it took about twice as long in real life to subdue that gopher.
OMG!,I know this place well, my dad flew his electric airplanes with his friends there, it's also the last time I seen him alive. My name is Bicycle Bob and I approved this message and I saw egrets doing this there.
Yeah you are right. It is very close to the model airplanes. Usually it is a Great Blue Heron or a Great Egret I see hunting here but I was quite happy to watch this heron.
Birds are crazy. Ive seen videos of seagulls eating squirrels.
Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, wie groß die Brocken sind, die ein Vogel als Ganzes verschlucken kann. Man mag sich kaum vorstellen, daß solche Mengen auf einmal durch einen Schnabel passen.
Thanks. Danke schoen. My brother in law showed the video at a large party. The women screamed when the gopher was swallowed. I would have thought they would scream at the capture or choking but no, only at the swallowing.
I need some of those at my house,, Damn Ground squirrels have holes everywhere!! Occasionally a Hawk makes 💜💜 a fly through and gets a meal!!
First a gopher, next a golfer! 🏌️ 😂
I hope he doesn’t kill all the golfers😂
impressive photography. I imagine the heron despite being proud of its catch dread now having to swallow it whole.
Thought the Heron would keep the gopher pinned down, with its talons and then rip out the proteins.
Water birds such as herons don't have the talons or beaks designed to tear flesh.
Herons do not have talons
dinosaurs still hunt our ancestors...
Dude's gonna get the meat sweats
We have hoards of great blue herons and few "great white" herons at our Rouge Park River Area.
The great white or tri colors might be color variations of the great blue but they make the most "reptilian croaking, chattering calls".
The great white egrets are a different species way more south of me and are more decorated with feathers.
I was in Detroit last fall. Here in California we have Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. I do have videos of both types eating gophers and other things too. They are both amazing in their own way.
Hey Ron ! Enjoy your meal , ...
Fascinating!
I think it likes the cover of the longer grass
Yeah it seems to like some long grass but not too much. On the other section of the park, I see them hunting on short grass (hunting bugs) I haven’t seen this particular heron for a month or so but I’ll keep looking.
that's gonna make for one impressive splat on some unfortunate windshield.
There was a tree near to where I used to live and these guys roosted there. The white washed cars that parked under that tree were basically totaled IMO.
When the heron let go of it, the gopher seemed to already be fatally wounded, but the snatch was so quick, I couldn't see what caused the injury. Did the bird stab it with its beak in the beginning?
Yeah I think it did. I think it was probably accidental because this bird usually grabs and chokes but it looked to me in a slowed version that it pierced the neck in a pretty vital spot.
Gr8 Worꓘ.
Wayyy Kool.
Thx a Ton for the Post.
"Black-crowned Night Heron" Holy shit. Goth much?
What did it do in the initial strike to incapacitate the gopher?
Does it shake the prey in order to break its neck? It looks like it couldn't suffocate it.
Nice catch by the way (of the heron's behaviour).
I think in this case this bird inadvertently pierced the gopher in the throat. It’s hard to see and I’m not sure but I did look at it multiple times and slowed way down. That is why I think the gopher was wiggling so much at the beginning. The bird then grabbed it by the neck and squeezed and shook it until it could be eaten.
Dad, what's that coming out the side of the gophers head?
His brains.
Oh.
2:19 Target aquired. Radar LOCKED.
Challenge #1: Catch gopher.
Challenge #2: Actually swallow gopher.
No kidding eh . Could you imagine a 6’ tall one !
What great hunters!
He also goes up in the tree to eat it because if you're on the ground it'll get covered in ants and insects and everything else that will annoy you while you're trying to eat and any other bird or prey item will find you and possibly eat you also! Or at least disturb your dining pleasure!
Yeah. There was a red tailed hawk that frequently landed on some nearby power lines. I have seen the stealing from the larger herons so I am pretty sure it would steal this bird’s food too.
They will be the next terror birds of the future!
Now that’s a big gulp!
Next on the menu, chihuahuas
Beautiful night heron❤
Nature is not cruel nor unkind. Over time, everything is food for something else, somewhere, somehow.
Yeah, a gopher has to keep being a gopher and a heron a heron.
@jimzenor9148 absolutely right, my friend
Amazing video ! I am wondering what camera and lenses you used?
Thanks. I have a Canon R6. I almost always shoot at maximum 4K with my EF 400 mm DO lens.
@jimzenor9148 That's why it looks so good you have a really good tool, nice 👍
It's not a direct kill, so it just hold the prey around the beak and making movement to let the beak cut and the prey will eventually die through bleeding, did I get it right?
Imagine how a dinosaur would have attacked😮😮
I’m glad I don’t have to crap that out😂
How did it kill the gopher? Did it break it's neck? A fatal punture wound?
I think in this case it choked the gopher. The larger herons and egrets will usually stab with their bill.
Birds are direct descendants from dinosaurs. No wonder.
Dang that beak is sharp!
Yeah it sure is. In some views it looks like a dagger.