birding-aus

Heron using bait for fishing

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Subject: Heron using bait for fishing
From: "jade welch" <>
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:15:25 +1000
Carl and All,

I had an elderly friend who worked as a wildlife rescuer some years ago. In her possession was a Torresian Crow which after a short time was released and continued to come back to pick at the bread she gave to the chooks. The bird always carried the bread off and never ate it in front of us which we thought to be strange. After a while curiosity got the best of us so we followed the bird with the car down the road to a near by dam. Luckily the dam was at a release site she used regularly so we had no problems getting to the dam where we witnessed an incredible site. The crow was dropping the bread in the water and catching small fish with it. That is a sight I shall never forget.

Yours Sincerely
Mr Jade Welch
Gold Coast,
Queensland




From: Carl Clifford <>
To: "Birds (E-mail)" <>
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Heron using bait for fishing
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:03:31 +1000

Dear All,

Being the commsumate intellectual that I am, I was watching Australia's Funniest Home Videos last Saturday evening. I was particularly interested in one clip which showed a Heron, rather like a Striated, hunting off a wharf. I know that is not unusual, but this bird was shown scavenging around the wharf for pieces of bread that were laying around, and instead of eating the bread, taking it down the wharf steps and dropping it in the water. When small fish swam up to investigate the bread, the Heron quickly snatched a fish and hey presto - one fish dinner! Has anyone seen birds using bait to attract prey like this? The heron certainly looked as if this was a regular part of its behaviour, not just a one off accident some one caught on video. It was certainly the highlight of the evenings viewing, even better than Dr Who!

Cheers,

Carl Clifford
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