Great blue heron

Ardea herodias

From their pointy beaks to the long toes at the end of some of the longest legs in the Kansas bird world, everything about great blue herons is skinny.

But they didn’t get that way because they’re dainty or finicky eaters. Great blue herons may be the most proficient predator of all Kansas birds that prowl wetlands, streams and lakes.

A local photographer recently sent a photo of a blue heron catching, and swallowing, a common carp of at least three or four pounds. It looked like there was no way the bird could get such a fish, still squirming, headed down such a thin throat. But photos show it most certainly did.

Others have seen blue herons eat snakes of more than three feet long. Some have been pecked to death, others have just gone down the gullet still squiggling and squirming. One photo shows a snake trying to wrap itself around the heron’s bill, but the bird eventually won.

Still, things like crawdads, small fish and frogs make up the majority of a heron’s diet in Kansas. They’re not opposed to grabbing a small bird or mammal to add some variety to their diet.

Most local blue herons nested in this area this spring, and will migrate southward in a few months to find easier hunting. A few, though, stick around the Wichita area through the winter, crowding around any open water they can find. The outlook is not good for any fish they can find in the middle of winter, when the icy water has the fish moving in slow motion.

This story was originally published August 12, 2016 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Great blue heron."