Watch: Black Heron Creates Umbrella-Like Shade To Catch Prey

We often come across fascinating wildlife videos on social media. From birds migrating, and animals camouflaging to their varied hunting styles, the mannerisms of different species in the wild amuse us, humans. One such video, showing a Black Heron’s technique to hunt, has gone viral on Twitter.

The video, captioned – “Black Herons use their wings to create shade that will attract fish,” shows a black heron making an umbrella-like shade with its wings and enclosing an area in order to hunt its prey. In fact, even though it fails to find and catch prey on the first attempt, it successfully finds one on the second try.

The behaviour is called canopy feeding, where the bird will tuck its head down, spread its wings around its body and create a sunshade of sorts. The reason herons do this is to attract small fishes, who look for shade when they want to hide. According to Bill Shields, a professor emeritus at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, it also helps herons to see better — as the shade helps the bird see clearly. Simultaneously, herons might also be protecting themselves from their prey while hunting.

The original video belongs to Paul Wheatley, a Leeds-based nature videographer, who shot this while on a trip to the Gambia. The heron didn’t seem to be troubled by the presence of the photographer while hunting its prey on Lake Kotu.

Since being shared on November 10, the video has gathered over 1.08 crore views and more than 2.62 lakh likes. People in the comments were seen discussing the hunting behaviour of animals.

A user commented, “Wonder if that behaviour is learned via observation, experience, or if it’s instinctive.”

Another user wrote – “The behaviour, called canopy feeding, is an especially effective way to hunt.”

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