Getting to the tastiest parts of crabs and lobsters is an awful lot of work, even when you have the proper implements. Imagine how tough it was for this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) to figure out what to do with this crayfish that it caught at my local marsh.
Great Blue Herons generally swallow the frogs and fish that they catch after just a few adjustments to get it to slide down the throat, but the heron seemed to spend a long time with this catch, moving it back and forth in its bill. I was a bit too far away to tell if the heron eventually swallowed the crayfish whole or somehow was able to crack the shell. In either case, I’m impressed with the digestive system of this beautiful bird.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Actually, birds are able to digest the chitin in the exoskeleton of crayfish, so the bird probably just swallowed it whole after figuring out how to get the pincers to slide down its throat. Very nice photo, Mike.
Wow. I know that I would have a tummy ache. (I’ve even really careful to peel my shrimp.)
Perhaps he saw you and wanted to make a big show of it for the photographer!
You might be on to something there, Lyle. Great Blue Herons have to work hard to justify the “Great” in their names and seem to be performers at heart.
Nice shot!
Herons are certainly opportunistic birds, I watched one once picking off ducklings from a local lake, heartbreaking to watch as ducklings are so cute but that’s just nature … Excellent shot and timing Mike.