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<\/p>\nMaybe some birds are “smarter” than we think they are.<\/p>\n
Three years ago I witnessed a near feeding frenzy of Pied-billed Grebes at Farmington Bay WMA. Over a relatively short period I photographed multiple grebes as they caught and fought over fish. The action was hot and heavy and some of the fish were approaching a size that was too large to swallow which resulted in some interesting behaviors.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I took this shot soon after the grebe emerged with the fish so it hasn’t yet had time to turn the carp around so it\u00a0could be swallowed head first (as they always do). The bird was far away but I wanted to include the photo to show the size of the fish relative to the grebe. I found it hard to believe the grebe would even\u00a0try<\/em> to consume such a large meal. But it did and I took several hundred photos during the drawn out attempt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n And it used a technique that I rarely see from this species to facilitate the swallowing process. In birds the size\u00a0of a meal is limited by the diameter of the gape (the attachment points of the mandible and maxilla) and obviously when the meal is marginally too\u00a0large to pass through that opening birds don’t have hands to force the issue. So this one used the only other tool available – gravity.\u00a0And it used that tool as efficiently as possible by tilting its head until it was perfectly vertical to get all the “push” from gravity that was available.<\/p>\n Birds often use gravity in this manner but I seldom (if ever) see\u00a0this species use it so efficiently by tilting their head until it’s perfectly<\/em> vertical (though I have seen larger birds like some herons do it). And that got me to thinking – how did this bird know<\/em> that\u00a0perfectly vertical is the most efficient angle for a fish that might be too large to swallow? I don’t believe a human toddler would automatically\u00a0know it in a somewhat\u00a0similar situation.<\/p>\n I suspect in both cases it’s a learned behavior (rather than innate) –\u00a0learned\u00a0from trial and error.<\/p>\n On a different level the more I look at this image the more I like it for its uniqueness. Straight lines and right angles are fairly unusual in nature but the angle formed by the body of the bird and it’s extended neck is a\u00a0near-perfect right angle and that angle continues with the fish. Even that floppy fish\u00a0tail is sticking straight up to\u00a0complement the effect and I think that’s pretty neat (apparently I’m easily amused).<\/p>\n Ok, back to the attempted meal. Was the grebe able to swallow the fish?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I don’t know. The grebe spent a long time trying to get it down and then another grebe tried to steal it away and I was able to get this shot as the original “owner” sped off with its prize. After this the bird dived underwater and I lost track of it. It may have succeeded or\u00a0the fish\u00a0may have been released. I’ve seen both happen in the past.<\/p>\n One final note. I realize that birds “swallowing vertically” may seem like a tenuous claim to intelligence but it’s still my contention that it’s something that has to be learned and we shouldn’t just take it for granted. Perhaps that’s a reach but I don’t think so.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I can’t resist mentioning something else in a completely different realm. On my blog I often have to use the past tense of “dive” so I have to choose between dove and dived. Typically I choose the latter but Merriam-Webster says that both are\u00a0correct. To me neither sounds ideal but I have to make a choice. Does that choice ever\u00a0bother anyone else<\/em>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe some birds are “smarter” than we think they are.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-9328-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pied-billed-grebe-9328-ron-dudley\\"")
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