Little Egret & Cormorant

In the same way I’ve seen Merlin follow Hen Harrier to take advantage of birds spooked by the harrier, today I watched a Little Egret shadowing a Cormorant to catch the fish it disturbed. A case of kleptoparasitism? Anyone else seen this before? Certainly the first time I’ve noticed this behaviour. I would post the video showing this but I’ve already used up my Vimeo allowance for this week! Couple of grabs give an idea of the action which repeatedly proved successful for the egret. Video available now HERE (poor quality but shows behaviour)

photoe photog

2 thoughts on “Little Egret & Cormorant

  1. I found your blog because I have been watching this behaviour too, on the RSPB Adur reserve. I haven’t observed it in previous years, but ten days or so ago I saw one little egret following one cormorant, and then, yesterday, two little egrets were following two cormorants. I have videod them, but have yet to edit the video. I got the impression that both species might be gaining from this in the shallow water, but only the egrets in the deeper water. I googled it and found records of this behaviour in other areas of the world with differvent cormorant species.

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