A tool using bird:The green heron is no "bird brain"!

photo by Jonathan Schechter  August 7, 2012
adjacent to Addison Oaks County Park (Michigan)

The green heron is very much at home in some wetland areas of Oakland County (Michigan.) Although it is most often seen standing motionless as it waits for a frog or fish in shallow water to come within striking range, this one was perched next to a short grass meadow at the edge of a dusty roadside. I wondered if perhaps in this time of drought and drying ponds it was watching for a meadow vole to add to its varied diet.
The green heron has also been document by researchers and birders in its ability to use tools!  
This stocky little wading bird will drop "bait" onto the surface of a shallow wetland and then swoop in and grab  small fish lured in. Bait include bugs, beetles, insects, earthworms, twigs and feathers.