Green Heron bait fishes

Green Herons (Butorides Virescens) are stocky birds with a greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs.

Most of the time the Green Herons perch in the shadows, near water with their head and long neck pulled in tight against their body. When they spot fish, their neck can dart out quickly to stab its prey with a long, sharp pointed bill.

The Green Heron spends its winters in the southern U.S. and further south to Venezuela, Panama, and the West Indies. However it breeds across most of the U.S including mid-Michigan. You can find the birds along the shoreline of rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds.

The Green Heron are fun to observe. The birds feed normally at dawn and dusk but those hours are extended when there are hungry young to feed. They are one of the few tool-using birds. They prefer to hunt for frogs and small fish in shallow, weedy wetlands and are often seen dropping small debris, like bugs and feathers as a form of bait to attract fish within their striking range.

The video below is one of many I found showing the Green Heron fishing: http://youtu.be/Nk-FKbrFkUM