In a paper in Waterbirds (34 (1): 117-120), DISL PhD. Candidate Matt Ajemian presents striking photographic first evidence of elasmobranch predation by a waterbird. Elasmobranch refers to sharks, rays and skates.  In this case, a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) foraging on an Atlantic Stingray (Dasyatis sabina) was observed off coastal Mississippi. Although elasmobranchs have been previously reported in the diets of birds, this observation was the first documenting the attack and consumption behavior by a bird on an elasmobranch.

Co-author Daniel Dolan captured this event in Biloxi, Mississippi, with his Nikon camera, and the images of how this slim-necked predator manages to ingest this wide-berthed prey are arresting. 

Ajemian states, “The few anecdotal reports of waterbirds feeding on sharks and rays are typically derived from stomach content analyses of birds, which could never tease apart true predation from bird scavenging on elasmobranch discards (i.e. from trawlers) or carrion.

“Here, we finally have solid evidence of a complete predation event, from stalking the stingray in its ‘protective’ shallows to the swallowing of this seemingly cumbersome prey item. We have received reports from birders in other parts of the Gulf (e.g. Tampa
Bay) that state this similar predation on stingrays of the intertidal zone. So, this probably isn't an isolated event. What's more likely is that we've completely overlooked birds as predators of intertidal elasmobranchs.

“Some researchers view the shallow intertidal zone as a refuge for rays from larger predators (e.g. sharks) of the deep, but we did not full consider predators striking from above.”

Note to editor/reporter: For comment or a .pdf of this paper, contact Matt Ajemian at majemian@disl.org, or 251-861-2141 x2384.