I just watched a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) perform a little dance, which was not part of a mating ritual, since there were no other herons in the area.This bird is a solitary resident, as far as I can tell.
The bird was standing at the edge of a concrete dam, and at first spread its wings, as if drying them. Then it hopped and flapped so that it rose about 3 feet (1 meter) into the air. As it did this, it kicked its legs out at about a 45 degree angle a couple of times and then floated back down to the dam.
It was not a particularly graceful thing, in fact it was rather gawky, but I don't consider herons to be graceful birds, anyway.
It went through this sequence twice, and then stopped. There were other birds on the dam, at the time, ducks, geese, and a couple of cormorants.
What did I see, and don't cranes do something similar?
I thought this sort of thing was only part of foreplay.
The bird was standing at the edge of a concrete dam, and at first spread its wings, as if drying them. Then it hopped and flapped so that it rose about 3 feet (1 meter) into the air. As it did this, it kicked its legs out at about a 45 degree angle a couple of times and then floated back down to the dam.
It was not a particularly graceful thing, in fact it was rather gawky, but I don't consider herons to be graceful birds, anyway.
It went through this sequence twice, and then stopped. There were other birds on the dam, at the time, ducks, geese, and a couple of cormorants.
What did I see, and don't cranes do something similar?
I thought this sort of thing was only part of foreplay.
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