Nature Scenes with Lynn Bowen: Green-backed heron benefits from instinct and intelligence

BEACON PHOTO/LYNN BOWEN
This debonair, adept green-backed heron crouches in a foraging position, with his neck temporarily looking short, at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park on the west coast of Florida.

By Lynn Bowen
BEACON COLUMNIST

posted Jun 1, 2009 - 10:48:29am

The green-backed heron really is a fisherman. He often catches an insect, kills it, and then floats it on the top of the water as a lure to catch a fish! He also eats frogs, leeches and mice. Sometimes he drops twigs, leaves, feathers or worms on the water to attract fish to the surface.

Crafty little guy! Very few birds in the world use this method, according to reference books. One wonders if the green-backed heron has great intelligence or if he's simply following his instinct. It has been shown that many birds and mammals have great problem-solving abilities — the definition of intelligence.

Crows and parrots often perform as well as dogs in tests involving reasoning or learning. Another example is the ability of blackcapped chickadees to distinguish an empty sunflower-seed husk from one containing food by its weight! A common raven can retrieve meat hanging on a string by lifting the string with its bill and stepping on the string to hold it.

Some birds show evidence of intelligence by imitation. Many house sparrows have learned to open automatic doors to grocery stores, restaurants and other sources of food by hovering in front of the electric-eye sensors!

Most people are aware that parrots can imitate words and even understand them, but if a person says words in a harsh manner, the bird will respond negatively. If the same words are spoken lovingly, a positive reaction will result. So don't say "Good girl" in a gruff manner or it will be interpreted to be bad!

Sorry if this steps on anyone's toes, but chickens, doves, cats and rabbits are less successful at tasks requiring skills and rely on instincts, according to my research.

The photo accompanying this column shows a green-backed heron. This 15-inch wading bird has a chestnut-colored head and neck, green crown feathers, and a green back. The rest of his plumage is brownish-gray. He has a yellow spearlike bill that has a brown tip.

The yellow-legged, 7-ounce bird has a fairly long neck, but he usually pulls it back on his shoulders; then when he lunges, like a spring, for a fish, his neck lengthens to reveal its true length. Green-backed herons live mainly in the eastern half of the U.S. and down into northern South America, along wooded streams and ponds.

In conclusion, one can declare that instinct plus intelligence dictate the green-backed heron's actions, which were probably learned from its parents and other relatives.

— Bowen lives in DeLand. Send e-mail to abowen27@cfl.rr.com.

— abowen27@cfl.rr.com.

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