07-26-2006, 01:53 PM
I've seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron ('Auku'u) at the pond at Kapoho Beach that has the non-releasable sea turtle. There are a lot of fish in the pond that come to the food that the turtle is fed (dog kibble, among other things) and the heron comes down to pick them off when they rise to feed with the turtle. It's kinda like something called commensal feeding, where one animal feeds on other animals that are drawn to or flushed by the feeding of yet another animal. The night-herons are, of course, coming to the pond because of the fish.
This is probably the same as Cat's "fish herons",
http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/pic..._Heron.jpg
or
http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/pic...Heron2.jpg
The first is an adult 'Auku'u, the second is an immature one. Other than the introduced Cattle Egret, which is white with a rusty wash on the head, the 'Auku'u is the only heron regularly found in the Islands. Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy egrets show up as vagrants in the Islands.
Les C
This is probably the same as Cat's "fish herons",
http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/pic..._Heron.jpg
or
http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/pic...Heron2.jpg
The first is an adult 'Auku'u, the second is an immature one. Other than the introduced Cattle Egret, which is white with a rusty wash on the head, the 'Auku'u is the only heron regularly found in the Islands. Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy egrets show up as vagrants in the Islands.
Les C