This Bird's an Overachiever
I took about 100 pictures of this Anhinga's struggle with a type of catfish I'd never seen before. Internet research reveals that this is an example of "Armored Catfish" (Hoplosternum littorale), another escaped non-native fish that is proliferating in South Florida.
The Anhinga had three problems to overcome: rendering the fish immobile, getting the fish in the proper head-first orientation for swallowing; and, getting that thick, armored fish down his skinny neck,
Paul ( D200-Paul ) and I watched this struggle for 15-20 minutes, as the Anhinga would attempt to swallow it, cough it back up, throw it to the ground, throw it up in the air several times to maneuver it to his mouth, and repeat the process over and over again. Eventually it looked as if he would successfully swallow the fish, so Paul and I moved on. (Hope the Anhinga didn't choke himself ).
This Bird's an Overachiever
I took about 100 pictures of this Anhinga's struggle with a type of catfish I'd never seen before. Internet research reveals that this is an example of "Armored Catfish" (Hoplosternum littorale), another escaped non-native fish that is proliferating in South Florida.
The Anhinga had three problems to overcome: rendering the fish immobile, getting the fish in the proper head-first orientation for swallowing; and, getting that thick, armored fish down his skinny neck,
Paul ( D200-Paul ) and I watched this struggle for 15-20 minutes, as the Anhinga would attempt to swallow it, cough it back up, throw it to the ground, throw it up in the air several times to maneuver it to his mouth, and repeat the process over and over again. Eventually it looked as if he would successfully swallow the fish, so Paul and I moved on. (Hope the Anhinga didn't choke himself ).