White-faced Heron

Explanation: Stalking prey in this open grassland in the town of Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula of North Island, New Zealand, is this stately White-faced Heron. This is the most common heron species here, also found in Australia and New Guinea.

Interestingly, apparently White-faced Herons became self-introduced to New Zealand in the 1940s, and have since spread throughout the country. What induced that initial self-introduction is not well known, but might have been a happenstance of favorable weather and wind conditions from Australia. Such climate conditions have spurred self-introductions of other species, as well (Neuhäuser and Cuming 2007).

On the hunt!
White-faced Herons are not picky eaters,
and go after small fish, insects, crustaceans, and amphibians.

Their feeding behavior is largely sit-and-wait or
slow stalk-and-pounce. Success rate is not high,
but by expending little energy in the hunt, they
can energetically afford to try, try again.

Information:
     Neuhäuser, M. and P. Cuming. 2007. Climate change and the arrival of self-introduced bird species in New Zealand. Notornis 54(1): 11-14.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week