Diving Duck?

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ACarbone624

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I was at my local pond bank fishing this morning and I got a good hit. I thought it was a big bass. I set the hook and went to reel in and up came a bird :shock: of some sort. I guess he was chasing the baitfish. After that I saw about 30 Sunfish come real shallow....running from the bird. The bird kept going under and popping up every minute or so.

What the heck kind of bird is this? Looks like a duck but with a long beak and dark brown in color.
 
I'm not sure what type of bird it is, but we've got something similar here also. Ticks me off when I see them catching fish and I can't get a bite, lol. It's still interesting to watch them though :)
 
I think its a cormorant if I'm you're talking about what I'm thinking about
Juvenile-cormorant-swimming-in-shal.jpg

This one is lighter than the ones I've seen. When they swim, only their neck and head stay above the water (if they're not diving). They'll sit on a rock or stump with their wings spread out. Some people blame these birds for the decline in the striped bass population in the Santee Cooper Lakes here in SC.
 
I may take my dang binocs with me next time and see if I can get a better look at them. What I see around here looks real close to the pic you posted, however, after further searching on the web a minute ago, it seems that cormorants may not be indigineous to my state.
 
i've seen ducks dive down after you shoot them and hold onto a piece of grass underwater like a defense meconism, drives the dogs crazy trying to get them
 
FishinsMyLife said:
I think its a cormorant if I'm you're talking about what I'm thinking about
Juvenile-cormorant-swimming-in-shal.jpg

This one is lighter than the ones I've seen. When they swim, only their neck and head stay above the water (if they're not diving). They'll sit on a rock or stump with their wings spread out. Some people blame these birds for the decline in the striped bass population in the Santee Cooper Lakes here in SC.

Yes, thats it! Just a little darker in color. That thing surprised me that it could stay underwater so long. I don't think I've ever seen one before.
 
KMixson said:
I may also be an "anhinga" which resembles a cormorant but has a very sharp pointed bill.
It could very well be. The ones I see around here could be also, I never bothered to learn the differences between them (cormorant and anhinga). I call all of them I see cormorants :lol:
 
The Loon is a member of that fam. also and has a darker color and slightly more pointed beak. Though there songs (calls) are very diff. The Loon is a very longwinded diver, capable of being under water for several mins. and swimming quite a long dist. while doing so. Can't post pics. yet or I would put one up for ya.
 
As said before, it is most likely a cormorant. They are all over the larger lakes around me and in the bays at the shore. I read a study in a magazine somewhere that they can eat up to 30lbs of fish daily. Don't quote me on that, but I know it was a lot of fish. They sit in trees around the lake a crap constantly.....awesome #-o
 
If it's a cormorant, now that you have one... you will probably have more.

They are heck on a fish population.
 
Waterwings said:
Quackr,

What's the species of diving duck/bird native to Ky?

I don't know that we have a diving bird native to KY outside of the grebes. They are a small bird about the size of a pigeon or a little bigger. The others that we get over this way are all migrators or ones that have just decided to stay behind after the rest go back north. We have a few different types of wading wetland birds that are native.

We have a few cormorants and anhingas on the lakes right now but the cormorants normally start showing up around September and build to really high levels by February, then they leave. High concentrations of them roosting on the islands of KY and Barkley have killed off most all of the trees and vegetation from the amount of fecal matter that they deposit. Those islands will be completely whitewashed while they are here.
 

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