15 Ferocious Moments of Birds Hunting Their Next Meal

Birds, like land predators, must eat to survive, and many different bird species have their own personal techniques, when they hunt. From the shrike to the pelican, some of these techniques are mind-boggling. If you want to see what they look like in action, sit tight, because we’re getting started.

Great Blue Heron Hunting Gopher

A heron on an early morning stroll in a park had a lucky encounter with a cute gopher. It was more of a “search and retrieve” type of encounter, as the tall bird pulled the small gopher out of the ground to swallow it whole. Some Blue Herons hunt for food on dry land that's not even close to water. This one was in a field across the street from the home of the person filming this video. This awesome hunter catches the gopher as the varmint sticks his head out of a hole in the ground. Once he stands up, he juggles the rodent in his beak a little, to grab it by the throat and choke it to death before he swallows it whole! Poor little critter but hey, that's life in the wild.

These birds have a lot of patience, keen eyesight, and lightning speed. This heron spots a gopher from up above and decides to land to get a closer look. Upon arrival, the heron saw correctly and snatches the little gopher. Take a few seconds to patiently observe the heron standing right next to a gopher digging some dirt out of his den. When the bird finally grabs it, it's well worth the wait. These birds listen and feel the vibrations in the ground, then close in on their prey, in this car, a gopher, until they get close enough, before going for the kill.

Crow With Squirrel Meal

Crows are known for their remarkable intelligence and resourcefulness, making them highly skilled predators. In this clip, we see a crow holding onto a baby squirrel. While I can't say for sure what the crow is doing, it's possible that it's using a variation of the play-killing and hunting technique. Traditionally, this involves capturing the prey and then releasing and recapturing it several times before finally killing it. This technique helps the crow sharpen its hunting skills and practice its techniques in a safe and controlled environment. Crows are also capable of using other methods of tiring out their prey.

By holding onto the squirrel until it's too exhausted to escape, the crow can whisk it away to a secure location where it will enjoy its meal in peace. The crow in this video hunted a poor squirrel down and killed it like a tiger hunts a deer, and after the kill, the crow grabbed its victim and took off with it. The bird in this video is possibly a raven, but it doesn’t make a difference for the poor squirrel, because it is being mauled to death. This scene is quite sad. A mother squirrel is dead, while her offspring can be seen playing with mom’s tail, probably thinking it’s still alive and sleeping. Two crows stand side-by-side with one of them eating through a small squirrel, while the other one just stares out in the open and eventually takes off.