In the BIBY notes re the Nankeen Night Heron under the head FEEDING, we read:
Nankeen Night Herons feed at night in shallow water on a wide variety of insects, crustaceans, fish and amphibians.
I have often seen them feeding on the hottest of days, before and after midday, in the shallows of a local river. Just two days ago I took these photos and also saw a single bird in the same place the following day (yesterday).
The note needs to be changed.
nd - I suggest that your bird has insomnia,
but seriously I have just checked the Morecombe's app and it says 'mainly nocturnal, it is most likely seen if flushed from dense foliage of its daytime roost, this would seem right for the majority of my sightings
Peter
fascinating observation, not something i've seen,
regarding the bird profile notes i don't think it's wise to talk in absolute terms as pertains to bird behaviour generally, there are always exceptions... just my 2c
Thanks pacman. Morecombe's app certainly doesn't apply to my locality, the Barwon River, Geelong, Victoria, as over three, maybe four years now, I have seen Nankeen Night Herons fishing here in the middle of the day.
Zosterops makes an acute observation when he says it's, "not wise to talk in absolute terms as pertains to bird behaviour generally, there are always exceptions."
Thanks zosterops
I have seen one Nankeen Night Heron active during the day, just a few days ago. It may have flown from one tree to another, forced out of it's normal sleeping area because of the day time activities of other birds being territorial of their own roosting areas. But the fact of the matter is, if you take everything into consideration, including Spring's excessive day time temperatures, lack of rainfall, etc, birds, whether noctural or not, will begin adapting and altering their behaviour. I've seen, in the past, Australian Magpies trying to find food several hours after dark near street lights. I've seen Laughing Kookaburras hunt at night at a petrol station. I've seen owls come out and hunt mice during the day time. What is to say that the Nankeen Night Herons are not doing the same but in reverse: hunting during the day because they can't find enough food at night? Its possible that they have resorted to hunting prey that is active during the day because it is more abundant than their normal food which is active at night. When you think about it it makes perfect sense. In nature, no matter what creature you are, if you don't adapt you will die. Its that simple.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
I just hope that Australia's birds will all be able to evolve quickly enough to deal with climate change. Fortunately or unfortunately, most if not all non-human animals don't have the technology that humans have to enable them to adapt quickly to permanent changes in habitat & the environment.
There's no way every writer of every guide will get every single fact about every bird's behaviour. When it comes to publishing with a predetermined amount of text space too it would be easier to write "mostly nocturnal" rather than something like "occasionally can be seen feeding during daylight hours".
Some great commentary on bird behaviour you have seen Hyperbirds - thanks for your contribution.
Woko - you paint an extreme picture here.
Canonguy - the note I suggested could be changed is on this website, not in a book. There is plenty of room to change the note to read something other than what it reads at present to better reflect the observed behaviour of these birds.
Witnessed a NNH feeding in the middle of the day in April this year at Laratinga Wetlands, South of Adelaide.
Seemed to be opportunistic in that he was hunting at a small rivulet (maybe 500mm wide x 1000mm long) where water was flowing from one pond to another.
This would be the perfect place to take advantage of small fishes etc being washed through.
Unfortunately I could only get a shot of the bird by the side of the stream,not actually hunting, before he was upset and flew to a nearby tree.
I saw him a couple of times after that, in the following weeks, in the same area.
Really interesting observations guys. Most of our text comes from HANZAB and similar sources as well as the experience of our volunteers writing the fact sheets, but undoubtedly birds do not always behave exactly as it is written that they do and can modify they behaviour. Will take a look at our text (and some other sources) and make some adjustments to reflect that they can occasionally be seen feeding during the day.
Just like Peter said, and the books I read, they like to roost in trees of a day . There are many in the trees above as I paddle my canoe through the paperbark swamps in my backyard, they are shy birds, they just keep ahead of me, flying from one tree to the next. We must remember Birds don't read books! That's why we should take down notes or even talk to others about how we see nature behaving .
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW