LJWorld.com weblogs Dangerous Ideas
Posted
by Paul Decelles
December 28, 2009 at 9:22 a.m.
Anticipation
poised for fish
the reflection still
like nothing else
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Comments
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liggyon (David Lignell) says…
Beautiful picture and poem, Paul. Reminds me of the wonderful egrets at the Chinese pavillion in Epcot. (Okay, so I peeked at your Flickr account!)
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
Pictures cause us to think because they focus on one thing and one moment, and you are not distracted by all that is around it.
That beak was obviously evolved for spearing. The natural world is so complex and wonderful.
Haiku is meaningful because it is spare.
That is a lovely one to read.
pdecell (Paul Decelles) says…
Dave,
That's OK. I probably took 20 shots of this bird the other day from different angles and deciding which one to post was not easy.
Irish,
Thanks. Haiku is fun to write (note I don't always use the 5-7-5 scheme). As for the beak the egret doesn't actually spear it's food. I have another picture of the same egret which shows this. That said the bird must have really great aim to capture its prey-to get that narrow beak at the right spot, where the fish or frog really is and not where it appears to be. If you have ever tried to spear a fish you know what I mean.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
I have been doing some research on the egret as it is a really fascinating bird so I want to thank you for this blog.
But I can't find anywhere why it has a long, sharp beak if not to spear. Do you know?
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
Bird with fearful beak,
Stalking along shores I seek
Startled fish will leap.
pdecell (Paul Decelles) says…
Irish,
Good Haiku! As for the long beak....bet it's not easily seen by the fish/frog/snake , giving the egret an extra split second before the prey reacts.
BMI (anonymous) says…
Also forceps-like for snatching between rocks and reeds where the fish dart to escape and to get smaller prey.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
Ah, but of course, thanks guys!
BMI (anonymous) says…
I'm no bird expert, but I would assume not all their eating is just darting to grab things. I would think they do some searching with their beaks close to or perhaps just below the surface in very shallow waters, thus the nose holes are close to the skull and the beaks are long to facilitate breathing. Or maybe none of it has to do with eating at all, and it's just a form of body camo to look more like a long plant shape such as those in the photo.
After all, are giraffes really tall so they can eat leaves in trees, or are they tall so they can look like trees?Zebras didn't get stripes so they can eat grass.Leopards didn't get spots so they can eat grass.I know the scientific arguments are endless, but it was fun to toss in there for a moment.
pdecell (Paul Decelles) says…
BMI,
You raise some interesting issues about how we view function in biology. I am not a bird expert either but it so happens that the American Bittern, which I think is related to herons and egrets, that has great camouflage coloration and body form which has the effect of making the bird very difficult to see. When the bird is startled it often raises its long neck, matching the reeds it leaves among and it even will sway matching the movement of the reeds in the wind.
Here's a ref with pictures:
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/...
BMI (anonymous) says…
It is a very cool bird, but come up with some reasonable explanation for this sound! I want to hear my mockingbird to that one, lol.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Am...
pdecell (Paul Decelles) says…
Now that song brings back memories. Where I grew up we had a pond with lots of cattails and we would hear this bird. It is a very impressive sound. Yes I would love to hear a mockingbird do that one!