Wah Chan’s image of a Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nyctic) using a stick to stir the water is probably another example of a heron making use of a tool to bait fish
We have two examples of a Little Heron (Butorides striatus) using pieces of bread to bait fish in the Singapore Botanical Gardens pond LINK 1 and LINK 2.
Herons are known to use tools that include live insects, fruits, discarded crackers and even twigs that they cast into the water to bait birds LINK.
It has also been reported that herons also indulge in tool manufacturing, trimming oversized twigs to a smaller size LINK Young herons tend to use larger twigs and thus less successful in baiting fish.
Wah Chan
Hong Kong
19th April 2017
This post is a cooperative effort between Birds, Insects N Creatures Of Asia and BESG to bring the study of birds and their behavior through photography and videography to a wider audience.
4 Responses
Superb documentation Wah Chan. This is what bird watching is all about.
Amar
Amazing photo Wah Chan – a great moment captured beautifully. Well done!
Hi Mr Wah Chan, could you get in touch with me, please ?
I wish to know more about your picture in the frame of my personal research on bait fishing herons (see my publications on researchgate for more informations https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michel_Reglade). Many thanks.
Please note that Wah Chan can be contacted via his Facebook.