Jan. 4, 2015 - Florida Birds and their food - Part 1

On a recent trip to Sanibel Island off the southwestern coast of Florida, I was fortunate to get lots of photos of birds catching and eating their food. Here is the first set of photos; these were all taken at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This is a Great Egret and it caught an Anole. I think this is probably an invasive Brown Anole, though I’m not sure.

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Here’s another Great Egret; it caught a small fish that has a very big mouth!

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Reddish Egrets are known for spreading their wings like this when they are fishing. The purpose of this action is not known for sure but there are two plausible explanations. One is that the wings shade the water around the bird, making it easier to see small fish that are swimming nearby. The other explanation says that the small fish are drawn to the shade because they see it as a protected area. They soon find out that isn’t true!

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Here’s a better look at the Reddish Egret and the small fish that it caught.

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This is a Snowy Egret with a small minnow that will become part of its meal.

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This Black-crowned Night-Heron was in one of the small pools along the wildlife drive. Its catch looks like a small sunfish to me.

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Here’s a Wood Stork in one of the large pools at Ding Darling. Its catch also looks like a small sunfish.

StorkWoodwithfishDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20141119