Little Blue Heron eating video. Crawfish?

[Gregg Goodrich]

After our DFO digiscoping field trip this morning we went to Rogers Grove Park to see the Little Blue Heron. It was on the south side of the islands. We got digiscope photos and video.

The video shows it eating something, maybe a crawfish? Link to the video below. We saw it eat two of these critters in just a few minutes. Looks like good chow. No wonder it is sticking around.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByETq77Zd-xeZ0ZWYzZ3SDBDTWc

And here is our checklist with digiscoped photos included in the list.

eBird Checklist – Rogers Grove Park, Colorado – Sat Jul 23, 2016 – 4 species http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30820251

Gregg Goodrich 

Aurora, CO

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Gregg et al,
Definitely crayfish, very likely genus Orconectes.  Very cool.  Crayfish are reported prominently in the literature pertaining to LbHeron diets.   Crayfish were the subject of "The Hungry Bird" column in "Colorado Birds" (Spring 2014, Vol48(2)). 

Dave Leatherman

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From: greggg...@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2016 20:25:26 -0600
Subject: [cobirds] Little Blue Heron eating video. Crawfish?
To: Cob...@googlegroups.com

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[Gregg Goodrich]

Dave,

Thanks for the ID on that critter! Here is a link to Dave's excellent article on crayfish.

http://cobirds.org/CFO/ColoradoBirds/HungryBird/48.pdf

Gregg Goodrich
Aurora