Great Blue Heron Swallows a Herring on the Charles River

[@cju4300]

Fish wiggling down the throat. Can't be fresher than that.

[@angelacidre8693]

what a coincidence I recently did research on the Great blue Heron...

[@ultimatemexicano3535]

Amazing capture! Was that huge/poor fish swallowed down thrashing (alive?!) all the way down it looks like?? I wonder, does the desperate fish stand any slim hope of escaping or even damaging the birds stomach if eaten in that condition as well!?

[@ChromatophoneNature]

+ultimatemexicano3535 According to National Geographic: "Great blue herons have been known to choke to death by attempting to swallow fish too large for their long, S-shaped necks. Though they are best known as fishers, mice constitute a large part of their diet, and they also eat insects and other small creatures". I don't think this means the fish has any hope of surviving though.

[@ultimatemexicano3535]

Just stumbled across this interesting capture! Interesting info, smart of the Heron to eat it headfirst, it must be a hungry bird! It also seems ironic that the fish's best defense works against itself too! At the end, it appears the desperate fish thrashing all the way down! Still, it looks like the potential prey could possibly turn around (or even bite!) inside the elastic throat/stomach? I would think the heron couldn't keep such a thing down okay and the frantic fish must be scrambling to escape such a fate? It does look like the fish has settled after a while, but couldn't that be the heron just straining to keep it "tucked in" some how??

[@ChromatophoneNature]

They have no trouble keeping big prey "down": kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZrEkpalfpJ8as0

[@ultimatemexicano3535]

This some fascinating capture! Wouldn’t it be great to grab the bird’s neck around 1:37 and save the fish from sliding all the way down? So even this particularly large fish stands no chance of turning around or even damaging (hopefully no harrm to the heron) the elastic 5roat/stomach irate non that condition?

[@xevisanchez3009]

@@ultimatemexicano3535 estas pirado tio, en todos los videos preguntando lo mismo. Lo tuyo es un trastorno.

[@SmootherPebbles]

this is at the dam, right? holy cow great shot, great channel, great channel name!

[@ChromatophoneNature]

Yes. Thanks much :)

[@deyonnebryant7233]

Great video! Thanks!!

[@ChromatophoneNature]

Deyonne Bryant So glad you like it :O)

[@eschwarz1003]

Hi, live in Watertown, on Charles r. trails frequently; Amazing diversity of life seen for a basically urbanized area, had heron sightings but never seen their awesome hunting in action. Has this river always been looked after consistently or have conservation efforts been very effective more recently?

[@ChromatophoneNature]

e schwarz as far as I know, all it took was businesses not dumping pollution in the river. Once that stopped, the wildlife returned,

[@TheStevengob123]

Redundancy is fun. The herrings harrowing journey was ended by the heron.

[@countalucard4226]

What a Fisherbird

[@gordonferrar7782]

An esophagus like the pit of sarlac.

[@ChromatophoneNature]

Lots more footage of herons and other birds eating things here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZrEkpalfpJ8as0

[@charlesw322]

That's what my Sushi does when I swallow it and that's how I like it!

[@trevordawson4699]

He washed it down with water

[@ChromatophoneNature]

They always do.

[@davidh7300]

Sushi: it's what's for dinner. How long did it take for that fish to stop flopping around in that bird's gut?

[@ChromatophoneNature]

I was on my lunch break so didn’t wait to find out.

[@maddawg6446]

Hey good video but what was the white stuff floating down the river??¿🤔

[@ChromatophoneNature]

I don’t know, but I see it often in the Charles River.

[@TstanDa-Man]

Mad Dawg IDGAF foam from the waterfall you can hear. The Charles isn’t the cleanest river either.

[@jamesaron1967]

@@TstanDa-Man Yes, foam but not natural foam. It wouldn't form tall thick suds that persist like that. It's very likely certain chemicals in the water. Sad.

[@liduck52]

Was it a red herring?

[@robertogenovese2979]

They never choke on it?

[@ChromatophoneNature]

No

[@robertogenovese2979]

Thanks, I'll stop worrying then.

[@robertogenovese2979]

@mark bushnell it's bad for them... I mean the fishes but you get it.

[@thelastjohnwayne]

Are you sure that was a herring?

[@ChromatophoneNature]

I’m no expert on fish, but sure looks like a herring to me.

[@GillAgainsIsland12]

If at first you don't succeed...

[@johnneytilley4165]

Herring are salt water fish. That wasn't a herring

[@johnneytilley4165]

Looks like pickerel

[@ChromatophoneNature]

www.maine.gov/dmr/science-research/searun/alewife.html

[@lefor.michel348]

1:39 the fish is still quivering in its belly !!! so he dies not immediately

[@WestCoastR1der]

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[@lefor.michel348]

2:46 : metod of cowards he uses !! he stands there and watch the fishes passing by defenceless....

[@johnneytilley4165]

Pickerel