SuperSize My Next Meal!

Green Heron chick trying to convince parent to SuperSize its meal next trip.

Larger version viewable at www.OzarksPhotos.com

Momma needs to give him a good old spankin'

At this stage the behavior is still relatively calm. Chicks beg and parents feed them. Clasping the parent's beak to get the parent's attention is the same as with Little Blue Herons.

If they are like Little Blue Herons, when they reach fledgling stage feeding time will become more of a dangerous contact sport! I shot nearly an hour of video of Little Blues the size of these all the way up to full-sized fledglings at Lake Martin last Friday. It gets pretty wild!

Thanks Aaron and Daniel.

I just read that the chicks grab and hold the beak and this encourages the regurgitation by the parent so they can feed the chicks.

I recall seeing this behavior before on a nature show. You captured a nice behavioral moment with this shot Larry, good timing.