Black-crowned Night Heron seen floating on water, Wash Park, Denver. Who knew?

[Joe Roller]

 I have been stopping by Grasmere Lake, the southern water body in Washington Park, at Downing and Louisiana, almost daily for a couple of weeks, counting American White Pelicans as their numbers grow - from 4 to 21, now plateauing around 19-21.

While there this morning I saw an adult Black-crowned Night Heron (hereafter BCNH) floating on the water!

It took me a while to figure out what family this bird was in, let alone species. It was somewhat loon-like, but the thick dagger bill, black crown and gray wings convinced me otherwise. The body was held horizontally, the bill parallel to the water.  I watched it for a minute, as it floated, not fishing or swimming. I ran around the south end to get a better look, and by that time it had resumed its normal vertical or hunched position on branches at the water's edge near it's 3 or 4 off-spring. I looked it up:

This from the Florida Natualist, Fall, 1973, James Kushlan:

Five feeding methods have been previously described for the species: 

Stand and Wait* &

Walk Slowly being the most common; 

Bill-vibrating, standing in shallow water while rapidly vibrating the bill at the surface, (Stone, 1937; Drinkwater, 1958); 

Hovering, flying in place above the surface and catching prey without settling into the water (Meyerriecks. 1960); and 

 Swimming- feeding, alighting on the water and catching prey while afloat (Wetmore, 1920). 

In this article, Kushlan describes "plunge-diving" from the air as a 6th feeding behavior.

Has anyone observed the floating or swimming behavior of Night-Herons?

Intriguing,  I thought.

* Milton - "They also serve who only stand and wait." 

Joe Roller,

Denver

[Tom Wilberding]

Very interesting, Joe, and thanks for the naturalist info. I've never seen a swimming BCNH, but here is a Google image of one, looking very duck-like. http://ronreznick.photoshelter.com/image/I0000x5z8Qm2fQlk

Good find!

Tom Wilberding

Boulder, CO

[Deborah Carstensen]

This may not be exactly the same, but a couple of years ago, I had a great blue heron walk into the pond where I live, wade out and then float in the water for 15 minutes or so. His wings for outstretched over the water. 

     I had some concerns that this was a suicidal gesture on the heron's part, but it proved to be unsuccessful, if that's what it was! It was a very odd sight to see and was really concerning to me. When I posted on Co birds about it, someone suggested that he was trying to drowned insects in his feathers… seemed reasonable to me.

      Deb Carstensen, Littleton, Arapahoe County.

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[Nick Komar]

I did observe an entire flock of white-faced ibis (same order as night-herons: Ciconiiformes) land in the center of a deep lake, joining a communal roost of gulls. They seemed very uncomfortable and almost immediately took off again. 

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO

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On Sep 7, 2014, at 12:53 PM, Joe Roller <jrol...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Deborah Carstensen]

Were they uncomfortable with the depth of the water or the sudden realization of the company they were keeping? Deb Carstensen, Littleton 

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[Nick Komar]

I believe it was the depth. They were attracted by the hordes of gulls. They circled around the gull flock several times before landing. They probable were hoping for a submerged sand bar. 

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO

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[Joe Roller]

Thanks for your comments. I now know that Ibi and NHerons are in the same order.

Joe

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