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It's late winter at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida. Many birds have finished nesting, and young birds are everywhere. This morning, wind and tide have conspired to strand schools of fish in backwater ditches. And the birds are taking advantage of it. It's a feeding frenzy! White Ibises, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and American White Pelicans join in. Thanks to the National Wildlife Refuge System, these birds — and many others — can thrive in protected habitats.
Support comes from Wild Delight Bird Food, offering a variety of blends designed to mimic the natural resources wild birds crave, available at Chewy.com.
BirdNote®
Feeding Frenzy
Written by Ellen Blackstone
This is BirdNote.
[Calls from a colony of Great Egrets]
It’s late winter at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida. Many birds are finished nesting, and young birds are everywhere. This morning, wind and tide have conspired to strand schools of fish in backwater ditches. And the birds are taking advantage of it. It’s a feeding frenzy!
[Splashing and slapping in water]
White birds, short and tall, line the banks of the ditch, barely a foot apart. Long beaks spear tiny fish – and sometimes jab at a neighbor.
[Squawk of an Ibis & splash of water]
Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, White Ibises, and a young Little Blue Heron that’s still white. All feed at the water’s edge. Meanwhile, two White Pelicans patrol the center of the ditch, criss-crossing, flushing fish toward the birds on the bank. They grab gulps of water, shake their heads and swallow.
[Splashing]
A momentary lull…
[Slight ripple off]
... then a Snowy Egret takes off, dragging first beak and then feet in the water.
[Splashing]
Is it teasing fish to the surface? It’s hard to tell, but the Snowies take turns doing it, and the excitement begins again. Thanks to the national wildlife refuge system, these birds – and many others – can thrive in protected habitats.
[Calls from a colony of Great Egrets]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Support comes from Wild Delight Bird Food, offering a variety of blends designed to mimic the natural resources wild birds crave, available at Chewy.com
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Sounds of the birds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Great Egret colony [45625] recorded by T.A. Parker; Snowy Egrets [59443] W.W.H. Gunn; White Ibis [163895] recorded by D.S. Herr. Ambient is from ML59443. BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2014 BirdNote January 2017/2019 February 2023/2026
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# SotB-feedingfrenzy-01-2019-1-22
Ellen Blackstone
Writer
Michael Stein
NarratorSights & Sounds
