In late September Ian Worcester guiding on the Daintree River by late
afternoon witnessed an attack on a Great-billed Heron by an immature
White-bellied Sea-eagle. The heron was knocked into the water during the
attack by managed to flounder to the shore.
Meanwhile the sea eagle was driven off by two Whistling Kites, a
number of Spangled Drongos and a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo joined in for
good measure. At the time the Heron appeared unscathed but shaken
however in the meantime another operator related that the bird may have
an injured leg.
Several years ago it was related to me that another Great-billed
Heron had been killed by an Amethystine Python at nearby Wonga Beach. In
the process of swallowing the heron its sharp mandible pierced the
snake's stomach which meant that in due course the hunter also perished.
In the many years of observing this species one would hardly expect
that they would be a meal item for anything other than an estuarine
crocodile.
Del. Richards, Fine Feather Tours, Mossman, NQ.
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