Video shows ‘savage’ Blue Heron swallowing alligator
A wildlife photographer captured a video of a Great Blue Heron swallowing an alligator whole.
However, it wasn’t a fully grown one.
In a video posted by Shellie Gilliam on Facebook on Dec. 8, a Blue Heron was recorded eating an alligator. Gilliam was on the north shore of Lake Apopka near Orlando, Florida, when she saw the large waterbird.
“Yes, A bird can eat an alligator! If its Savage enough! This Great Blue Heron spent a half hour killing and consuming a large juvenile Alligator near Lake Apopka,” Gilliam said. “I spotted it just after it had captured the alligator a few hundred yards away and then the heron flew off with the alligator in his jaws to this spot where he consumed it and I shot the video and took photos. Just Wow! Nature continues to me amaze me every day.”
According to National Geographic, Blue Heron have a carnivorous diet. The National Audubon Society says “highly adaptable” birds typically forage for food by standing still or slowly walking in shallow water. They wait for fish to swim near and quickly strike them with their bill.
Given the size of the gator, it makes sense that the bird Gilliam spotted decided to consume it. According to Audubon, the birds mostly eat fish but have a variable diet and also eat snakes, salamanders, turtles, frogs, rodents and insects.
About the Author
Kelcie Willis is a writer and online content producer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Sociology from the University of Georgia. At the AJC, she covers state, regional and national news with the Content Curation Desk.
