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Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 8:01 pm
by Fallenfox
It's time again for a thread about long-necked/big-mouthed birds eating things. Feel free to contribute artwork, pics or videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAgsPUrCV4A

In this vid a heron makes quick work of a wriggling squirrel, scoffing it alive at 0:27. The cameraman gives us a long look at the herons gullet and the wriggling bulge inside, which I really enjoy seeing.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/embed/GAgsPUrCV4A[/youtube]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9cOG-BHoA

Another AWESOME stabilized vid of a rodent being swallowed alive. In this one, the heron has the benefit of water to wash its prey down, and tilts its head high to assist in the feeding process. This is a perfect, headfirst swallow and we can clearly see the prey sliding down the long neck from 0:50 to 1:05. :gulp:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/GQ9cOG-BHoA[/youtube]

Enjoy! More to cum as I find them.

ETA: I can't seem to embed these. Does someone know what I'm doing wrong?

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 8:59 pm
by CarnivorousVixen
Those lucky little things!

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:10 pm
by yes
Awesome finds. And as for embeding youtube videos, I found this guide, but I tried it earlier and it didn't quite work for me.

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:33 pm
by dragonlover81
I'm sure my real life friends, who know me as a socially awkward but very compassionate person, would be utterly shocked by how much I enjoy stuff like this.

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2016 12:50 am
by unicorn
Oh wow, that second one is amazing; you can actually see it slide all the way down... usually it's sort of hard to tell once they're stuck in the throat, and it's rarely so smooth... Thanks for sharing!

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2016 11:07 pm
by darthkomar
Wow...that second one...

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:46 am
by boomer91
fuck this stuff is incredible :)

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 11:05 am
by GBBG
I love bird preds (if you couldn't guess from my user pic). Wildirishwan has a lot of good videos of herons and seagulls eating ducklings and rats etc... on his account. When I first found it it was like discovering a goldmine! :D The url is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/wildirishswan/videos

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 11:21 am
by GBBG
This video has lots of vore in it too. (skip to the middle or so for the birds). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxBIA7jy34M

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 12:00 pm
by JackFrost
The second one is fab, as is the later link showing a duck going all the way down the hatch.

I find it amazing to read some of the user comments on You Tube. The people that rant and scream, calling the birds murderers and evil are the ones that really make me laugh. This is the natural world, it's what happens. The heron is simply acting according to it's nature. open your eyes and deal with it.

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2016 3:38 pm
by GBBG
Sometimes the comment section on YouTube is almost more entertaining than the video :lol:

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2016 10:52 pm
by Fallenfox
This one is cute in a way - pelicans will try to eat anything. I don't blame the bird one bit, BTW... she looks very tasty! :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ5wQT9U0Z8

One more "attempt" video for those who like mawshots - two pelicans try their best to eat a gopro camera. Love those fleshy hammock-like gullets!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKLlydEKHm8

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2016 5:26 pm
by RandallTheHunter
Wow herons are now my new favorite pred
They're like perfectly made to swallow large prey whole and alive <3

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2016 6:39 pm
by Fallenfox
Another great one despite the poor quality. When herons are fishing in deeper water they usually won't repeatedly spear prey for fear it will get away. In this case they will almost always gulp it down it alive, as in this clip. The action-packed, sexy swallow is at 2:00 to 2:06. Fish cannot swim backwards, so any wriggling that a fish swallowed headfirst does just helps them down the throat. I've even seen herons time their neck-craning and tilting along with their prey's struggles. :gulp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOPzrdvlOEU

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2016 8:09 pm
by RandallTheHunter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH297Pm8DE0
Let me just contribute this one, swallow starting at 1:28, and that wriggling throat is just awesome~

Edit:
https://youtu.be/ciaacoI-I4k
Just found another good one, starting around 1:18

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2016 12:48 am
by Fallenfox
RandallTheHunter wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH297Pm8DE0
Let me just contribute this one, swallow starting at 1:28, and that wriggling throat is just awesome~
https://youtu.be/ciaacoI-I4k
Just found another good one, starting around 1:18


Outstanding! Herring are really energetic fish - these ones were fighting all the way down, and quite likely kept struggling for a long time in the bird's bellies. As mentioned in the youtube comments, the herons don't seem to mind the wriggling prey a bit, and watching them fluff their feathers and fan their tails after the swallow I can't help but think they are enjoying it. Yum! :D

ETA: a couple more from this great and prolific nature photographer. For the first one, Swallow is at 0:48.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYqneE83kA

This longer vid has some nice nature footage; skip to 9:27 for the good stuff. This fish is gulped down pretty fast, so he's still full of fight - enough to make the heron's whole body jostle with his thrashing inside! :-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBHoC9RV7cI

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 10:16 pm
by Fallenfox
I've been going through the older "nature" videos from this poster. They all contain very good footage, and most show the entire feeding - taking the time to watch the birds after the swallow, and often capturing some amazing struggling inside the bird's gullets and bellies. The best bits in this video are actually the little night herons. Though smaller, they are plucky little things - sometimes gulping down several live fish almost half their body length, and going back for more even while their necks are still wriggling from the first catch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Bja8hRuiM

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 12:59 pm
by simalst
RandallTheHunter wrote:Wow herons are now my new favorite pred
They're like perfectly made to swallow large prey whole and alive <3


I have to agree but pelicans are all the same. <3
But herons are really good.

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 1:11 pm
by simalst
JackFrost wrote:The second one is fab, as is the later link showing a duck going all the way down the hatch.

I find it amazing to read some of the user comments on You Tube. The people that rant and scream, calling the birds murderers and evil are the ones that really make me laugh. This is the natural world, it's what happens. The heron is simply acting according to it's nature. open your eyes and deal with it.


Where should that duck be?

Re: Herons/pelicans swallowing live prey

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 1:11 pm
by simalst