This group of shots shows a Purple Gallinule killing a Least Bittern that just happened to come into the Gallinule nesting area. Once the Bittern was knocked into the water and got its wings wet the Gallinule would not let it ever get above water again. The second frame shows the Gallinule punching out its eye, the third shows him breaking the bitterns lower jaw, the last shows him drowning the bittern. The drama took about 15 min and was very violent to say the least. I've always photographed both birds feeding their babies seeds and such, they seemed very gentle. I hope you can see the frames with our small file size limits. The orginal file is 88 mb's.Rod
Harsh as it seems, this is just how it is. A sad spectacle. At least you were witness to nature's own brutal ways. Thanks so much for sharing the story. :)
Rod, Very powerful series of images and heart breaking to watch. I have never witnessed anything like it. It must have been difficult to photograph. I agree w/ Fabs and Akos, thanks for sharing this.
Last edited by denise ippolito; 07-16-2009 at 08:53 PM.
Fantastic series Rod, and this particular observation may never have been reported in the literature. I agree with Grace, we have to accept these events as part of nature, "red in tooth and claw". At the population level, Least Bitterns are a listed species up here so my concern if predation were frequent would be for Least Bittern populations. I doubt that it is a frequent event though.
Never, thought a rail had it in him. "Gumming" something to death maybe, but not this!
Wow, that is a stunning series. Well documented. Photographers best never let down their guard in the the wilds of Florida; danger lurks everywhere!
Least Bitterns reportedly prey mostly on small fish, dragonflies, and aquatic insects. Birds are a pretty minor component of their diet but they are known to prey on blackbird eggs and young.
wow I would never have guessed that bird would do something like that, it certainly doesn't look like a killer, violent attack for sure but its probably not something many people have witnessed
Purple Gallinule killing a Bittern
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