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The Black Heron
This heron has an impressive trick for catching fish!
© Frans Vandewall
The canopy feeding method used by the Black Heron, also known as the Black Egret, is an impressive trick. It spreads its wings out like it's mimicking an umbrella and waits. Unsuspecting fish think this is shade from vegetation and a safe place to hide — and that is when the bird strikes! This pitch-black heron creates canopies in shallow open waters and seasonally flooded grasslands through Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Culturally, herons are seen as sacred messengers and symbols of prosperity and good fortune. The Black Heron is the bird chosen to represent this year’s Black Birders Week, which begins today. Learn how to participate in this year’s events here.
BirdNote®
The Black Heron
Written by Chelsea Connor
This is BirdNote.
[ambient sound: water flowing/splash]
It’s a hot day in the pond and it’s getting harder and harder for this school of fish to keep going. They need shelter and cooler water. There! Finally! The fish glide under the protective shadow and let their bodies relax. But hold on…Why does this plant have a spear?
[Ambient sound throughout: ML276916]
The canopy feeding method used by the Black Heron, also known as the Black Egret, is an impressive trick. It spreads its wings out like it's mimicking an umbrella and waits. Unsuspecting fish think this is shade from vegetation and a safe place to hide — and that [splash sound effect] is when the bird strikes!
[Black Heron call ML 276895, 0:02-0:04]
This pitch-black heron creates canopies in shallow open waters and seasonally flooded grasslands through Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. At high tide they return to roost in communities and may also hunt in small groups. Black Herons spend their lives following and breeding with seasonal rains.
[Black Heron call ML 276895, 0:02-0:04]
Culturally, herons are seen as sacred messengers and symbols of prosperity and good fortune. The Black Heron is the bird chosen to represent this year’s Black Birders Week, which begins today. To learn more, you can follow the hashtag Black Birders Week on social media and visit BirdNote dot org. I’m Chelsea Connor.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Black Heron ML 276895 and Thrush/Common Nightingale ML276916 recorded by P. Boesman.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote May 2022 Narrator: Chelsea Connor
ID# BLAHER-01-2022-05-29 BLAHER-01