Interesting note on behavior from the Florida list. Greg Bennett Akron OH Subject: Great Blue Heron predation on Pied-billed Grebe. From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan AT EARTHLINK.NET> Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 13:53:00 -0500 This morning at Sampson Lake (west of Starke, Bradford Co.) Bob Carroll, Becky Enneis, and I saw a Great Blue Heron carrying what appeared to be a football in its bill. Seeing two legs projecting from one end of the football, we realized that the heron was attempting to eat a Pied-billed Grebe, whose head and neck were already in the heron's gullet. However, perhaps because the grebe's weight prevented the heron from lifting it above the horizontal, or perhaps because it was just too big to swallow under any circumstances, the situation remained unresolved by the time we left. The heron spent about 45 minutes pacing around, occasionally appearing to put the grebe down and then pick it up again, but never got more than the head and neck past its gape. I was surprised when Mike Hoekstra reported a Great Blue eating a Least Bittern at Paynes Prairie in July 1988, but according to Sibley a Least Bittern weighs only 80 g compared to a Pied-billed Grebe's 450! Rex Rowan Gainesville ____________________________________________________________________________ FLORIDABIRDS-L Listserv mailing list information: Member photos I: http://bkpass.tripod.com/floridabirds.htm Member photos II: http://floridabirds-l.50megs.com For archives: http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/floridabirds-l.html Set nomail: Click: mailto:listserv AT lists.ufl.edu Type: Set floridabirds-L nomail Listowner: Click: mailto:FloridaBirds-L-request AT lists.ufl.edu ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]