No abstract

Diets and foraging sites of the Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea, in the breeding season were investigated by means of collecting regurgitated food items under nests and direct observations at foraging sites at 18 heronries in all over Japan. The diets extended several taxonomical animal groups. However, a large proportion of fish, both marine and freshwater, and a small one of mammals and birds characterized Grey Herons in Japan, compared with European ones. Grey Herons substantially depended on artificial foraging environments such as rice fields and fish-farmin preserves.