Egretta ardesiaca
One of the most interesting birds you could hope to see in action in South Africa’s wild places, is the Black Heron. It’s a smallish species, about 55cm long and less than 350g in weight. Their black plumage and bright orange-yellow feet make them easily recognisable.
Black Herons roost and breed communally in reedbeds or trees, near or over water, with others of their own species, and other kinds of egrets, herons, cormorants and ibises. Nests are platforms built of twigs at the start of the rainy season, on which clutches of 2 to 4 eggs are incubated.
They search for food, alone or in flocks of varying sizes, in rivers, swamps, lakes and estuaries, and feed predominantly on fish.
Black Heron
Black Herons occur widely in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the equatorial forests, The IUCN considers the species’ population stable and in no immediate danger of extinction, though they are highly threatened in Madagascar.
A recent visit to Austin Roberts Memorial Bird Sanctuary afforded us the opportunity to enjoy up-close views of the Black Heron’s characteristic hunting method, knows as “canopy feeding“. The bird uses its wings to create an umbrella around its head, and then picks off fish and tadpoles beneath. This behaviour may serve a dual purpose of preventing glare from the water, making it easier to see their prey, and tricking the prey into thinking that the shadow is a safe hiding place. They are also known to wiggle their toes underwater to attract their fishy prey.
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The canopy feeding is new to us! Thanks for a great post—beautiful. J&A
Thanks for paying us another visit guys! Hope the new year is treating you well?
Yes, 2016 is good so far… we are on our way to the Florida Keys, paddling from Key Largo to Key West over the course of 10 days. Don’t know if our wildlife pics will ever compare to yours, but we’ll try to get some good photos of manatees, birds, gators and the like. Back in a couple of weeks 🙂 Be well! J&A
Enjoy it guys! Sounds like a wonderful adventure and I can’t wait to read all about it when you return. Be safe!
I love those last shots with those wings – beautiful shape! 😀
Thanks Elle! Made me think of the black swan in the ballet.
I’d love to hire one of these guys to sit on my head and shade me 😉
Now there’s a novel idea! It might just become a new trend in Paris and Milan! 😀
The canopy feeding is truly one of the coolest bird series I’ve seen – quite an art to this feeding style and your down views are right there!
What a privilege to see it up close for ourselves!
Truly a gift to see it live –
Wow!! What a shot!!
Thank you!
the canopy look is quite amusing and also amazing. Wonderful photos as usual 😉
Thank you very much Ruth!
Sjoe! Dis interessant!
Verskriklik Toortsie!
What a clever bird to work out that fishing strategy and they call them “bird brains”
So true Pommepal! A very unique, and entertaining, solution to a problem that every type of wading bird faces.
Hahaha they are so funny looking, wonderfully captured while hunting. I only know the bird from a hilarious movie where there is a “daytime… nighttime” voice over when opening and closing its wings 🙂
Thanks Noortje! I can just imagine how funny that movie must be!
this one is so ‘wow’
Thank you Gavin!
What a unique and beautiful bird!
That they most certainly are, Montucky!
Die natuur is ongelooflik. Pragtige foto’s.
Altyd maar altyd iets daar buite om n mens se aandag en verbeelding aan te gryp, ne Christina? Baie dankie vir die inloer!
Definitief! ‘n Mens moet net jou oë oop hou.
That’s an amazing bird! It reminds me of the documentaries I used to watch on TV, when I was a kid 🙂
I still can’t get enough of those wildlife doccies, Samuel!
Clever bird – making a plan.
Definitely Dendymactoodle!
Interesting as well as hilarious! 🙂
janet
We were spellbound watching it go about its business!
Dis so oulik om hierdie outjie dop te hou.Pragtige foto’s Dries!Mens kry eintlik lag vir al die sambreelposisies wat hy inneem.
Baie dankie Dina! Dit was nou regtig lekker om die reiertjie dop te hou van so naby af!
This is truly amazing! Nature always finds its way. Thank you!
Absolutely Sandra, we think we have the only brain capable of ingenuity, but we are sorely mistaken.
Wow… ek is seker hulle speel spesiaal vir jou model!
Dis lekker as die diere en voels so hul gang gaan asof mens glad nie daar is nie!
That is truly fascinating!
I thought you’d like it, Kathy, thank you!
Beautiful photos of a beautiful bird!
Thank you very much, Corey!
What a smart method of hunting! And some people say that the birds do not have brain. Your photos are spectacular 🙂
Thanks Monica! Indeed, this bird devised a very clever strategy!
🙂
See a lot of herons, but never have seen a black one. Ours here are blue, though beautiful.
The herons and egrets is such a large and diverse family!
Yes they are.
Pragtige foto’s!
Baie dankie Aletta, ek was bly hy’t so mooi saamgespeel!
Loved the canopy feeding series. Isn’t it funny, that I’ve just wrote the post on herons (white eggerts) as well 😊?
Great minds and all that, Maciek 😉
Magnificent captures! Beautiful black heron. 🙂
Thank you Amy!
Love that position – I wonder if I could do the same? Would be very practical…
I must say that the black heron does it much more gracefully than I’d be able to Ann Christine!
Hehe, I’m sure…
Amazing shots, Dries! The only bird here that I’ve seen feeding like this, is Mr. Wood Stork. 🙂
Amazing to think that two entirely different kinds of birds, continents apart, devised the same strategy!
Love that “tent” of feathers. It got a chuckle out of me. Interesting, we have the Great Blue Heron here (Illinois, US), but they don’t do anything like this. Thanks!
Thanks very much Pat! I read up about your Great Blue Heron, seems it is a close relative, and almost looks identical to, our grey heron (which also doesn’t have this interesting trick up its sleeve): https://dewetswild.com/2016/01/12/summer-heat-at-olifants/olifants-afternoon-2-1/
Wow! That is something. Must be a good pattern if nature used it twice in two so very different locations.
I had exactly the same though Pat!