Do water birds move fish to other ponds by eggs getting on them or just dropping them or whatever. Everyone has heard stories of very surprise catches made in ponds. Like around here white perch and yellow perch, which are in the tidal creeks show up in ponds far from the creeks.

Do such catches come from birds or mostly fisherman?

If I was a Vegas oddsmaker, I'd put my money on the 2 legged critters without feathers.

I think we may be close to an even split on the bird-stocking aspect here on the forum.

I believe it happens, instinct wise, by a bird like a heron moving live fish.

I don't think the bird egg transport thing is real, but I suppose it has a snowballs chance.

Stocking by human (Ole Mudcat Joe) is the first go-to reason for seeing an odd fish in a body of water, but beyond that, I believe certain birds will move live fish.

I still say it happens although the odds may well be low. Why? Because of something I've posted here before. That is, I know of a fish farm in central Indiana that raises exotic gold fish in 200 ponds. They ship them out and don't have any retails outlets in the area, or even the state. Anyway, many of the recreational ponds in the area have these varieties of goldfish in them. And it's doubtful any of the locals are stealing them or have any interest in doing so. The fish farm ponds are visited by so many herons the farm has given up trying to control them.

I don't think it is just a legend. In Planet Earth and lots of another high quality documentaries they mention that. I don't know either this is because they really have a prouf about that or because they can't find any other explanations though.

"I still say it happens altho the odds may well be low" Well Cecil, when my wife got prego she had an IDU that was reportedly 97% safe, so me and my son believe in low odds being very attainable!!! Now I hate to ask this but Sunill made me do it. What came first, the duck or the sticky eggs? PS Bruce you can quote me on that.

I think it's possible for a raptor to drop a catch into another BOW, but I question whether or not it was intentional!

You have better odds catching a 10+ pound bass in the north than eggs sticking to a bird's legs and surviving to hatch in another pond. Herons or raptors dropping fish, almost as rare unless ponds are adjacent to each other. I know of several ponds that after years, 10+ still have no fish in them. Fish finding a new home in a pond is by humans, either on intentionally(with or without permission) or unintentionally(stock contamination, improper identification). Natural movement during high water events. They either get flooded down stream from a pond above yours or ascend your outflow into your pond.

speaking of birds and fish....crazy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx-k_hbq3pA

Holy Moly!!!!! That video is jumping off!!!!

Sunil, earlier in the day there at TJ's we saw an Osprey over his main pond. He's never seen one on his place before, so that was a first for him. Pretty cool birds.

I give it an almost zero possibility. Actually a 1 with a whole lot of zeroes following a .

If by chance a bird moved one fish into a pond what are the chances it will happen a second time, and be the same species, and be the opposite sex for reproduction to occur. Odds now become astronomical.

Never say never Bill. It's been said the odds against us being here with our particular DNA are astronomical. Someone ends up winning the lottery right?

I've seen some things happen in my lifetime that had astronomical odds against it.

Didn't say never, but astronomical.

O.K. my bad.

With the particular example I cited there are dozens of herons on this farm on a daily basis so perhaps these dozens of birds making numerous trips from pond to pond would increase the odds?

Aren't eggs sticky after being fertilized to stay in the nest of centrarchids? If not what would keep wind action from moving them into less desirable silty areas? If they are sticky what would prevent them from sticking to the feed of a heron marching through bluegill beds?

But, if they are sticky enough to stick, how do they magically become unsticky? And unstuck in the correct place to finish developing? Don't heron feet dry out during flight? I think the odds are even greater than winning the lottery.

I would just guess that it does happen but rarely and only a few fish. Now waterspouts from tornadoes can also move fish to other waters.

I agree that it could happen and probably has. But the odds are truly astronomical regarding any given event. Somebody wins the lottery but that requires human intervention.

I don't believe that a bird has ever consciously stocked fish.

The odds of eggs sticking to feet, feathers or fur are also pretty skinny. The odds of such eggs remaining viable after flight increase the odds. Lets say that the first 2 events did happen somewhere in neverland. Now, lets assume that somehow the wad of eggs came off the donors feet, fur or feathers into a pond. We also have to assume that those eggs had been fertilized by a male. To get the sunlight that they need, it would have to be in shallow water. We would also have to assume that there was enough wind/gentle waves to aerate them without them becoming covered with detritus. Lets further assume that it was a pond with no other fish of that species. Now, we need to assume that no bugs ate the eggs. That also means a BOW barren of anything like other small fish that would/could eat the eggs or any fry that somehow hatched. That means that the ever present opportunistic minnows/YOY just overlooked the easy meal. I may have even missed a couple of steps here.

So, we start with astronomical odds that keep getting hugely skinnier at each stage. The odds are probably worse than me winning the Powerball lottery. BTW, I don't play that sucker game.

By now, I'm betting that some scientist has probably tried to duplicate the process but failed. Anybody ever heard of such an experiment?

I'm not a scientist but I tried it about 10 or so years ago. I bought a white duck at a flea market and sacrificed it. At that time, BG were nesting and I ran a male off a nest. I tried to get the feet and feathers to stick but it didn't happen. I realize that it was just one time by a non scientist so that is no proof that it couldn't be done in a lab under controlled circumstances. But a pond isn't a lab.

I'll take the odds on Mudcat Joe.

Years ago before I had my pond dug, I dug a test hole seven feet deep. No tiles around. Minnows appeared. you be the judge.

Where'd the water come from to fill the test hole?

Watch a heron fly AWAY from your pond next time. Oh wait do they ever do that? LOL

They pull their legs up and fold the webbed toes together as they fly.

No magic needed. Sticky isn't like super glue for God's sake. :-)

I agree the odds may be low but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Remember all you need for population of a species is a male and a female or a fertilized egg of both sexes.

Another thing is you're forgetting herons regularly regurgitate things from their neck gullet. That's how parasites are introduced. Why not some fish eggs that are accidentally ingested? It could be a matter of short movements from pond to pond or watersheds over a long period of time.

That's called cheating isn't it?

Spontaneous Generation?

It filled by itself. I did not add water.

I am one to believe that the eggs are on plant life that is wrapped up around the water fouls feet and is moved from pond to pond. The eggs are not stuck to the birds feet but the plants they have moved. Some ducks when fighting (like seagulls do at the beach over a fry) will take off with a mouth full to land in another pond to eat it or even fight in the air and drop it.

It may take time but persistence pays off more often then not.

Cheers Don.

Muskrats, beaver, raccoons, etc may get things trapped in their fur and transfer it if another pond is close enough. There are probably other unlikely vectors as well, but as a whole at some point something will get some viable fish eggs in there. The most likely culprit has to be the two-legged type.

For the naysayers, explain this one.
This happened in my new excavated pond with no water source inflow other groundwater and 3 or so acres worth of yard runoff. A year after completion and the pond was a little over half full, nothing had been stocked yet, I saw what looked like cat fish rolling at the surface. My daughter and I set out some lines with catfish bait and caught several 8-10" CC. No one has access to the pond without a visit by my two bullmastiffs that roam the property so I doubt they were put in by people.

drumz, were they definitely Channel Catfish or could they have been bullheads?

That is what I thought they were at first so I posted pictures here and yall quickly educated me in how to determine catfish species.



here is the post on it:

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=302072

BTW: My memory's timeline was off a little, this was not even 3 months after I stocked my 1.5-2" CNBG. I would have definately noticed one of these guys mixed in with all those little fish.

In my opinion, catching several catfish rules out a bird carrying fish....drop one?, maybe, but several?

Eggs transported by an animal or wading bird? From a fish that tends to cavity spawn, in water that in many instances is deeper than what normal wading animals would encounter?

My money is on human intervention, or a high water event.

Here's a wild thought: if we're even remotely open to the possibility of an animal, or bird transporting viable eggs from one BOW to the next, why not consider that the fish we stock from a hatchery are introducing eggs from another species also? If they can stick to a bird's leg and remain viable, could they be stuck on the side of a fish, or in the transport water from the hatchery?

As long as we're considering all possibilities....

SHARKNADO

You know come to think of it I have a lake nearby that doesn't have sand or gravel for spawning beds for bluegills. The bluegills nest right on top of the submerged vegetation. Apparently they prefer the vegetation over the marl bottom.

Or walking catfish?

Watched this with my own eyes.

My pond was about a year old and still had a large population of FHM. A heavy rain early in the day created a puddle in the yard about 6' in diameter. I kept seeing a Belted Kingfisher going back & forth between the pond & puddle about 30' apart. The repetitive activity seemed very peculiar to me so I walked down to investigate. There was 12-15 FHM in pristine condition in that puddle.

It dried up by the next day with almost 20. There was no connection at any time between the puddle & pond. I watched this bird stock the puddle without any doubt in my mind.

Have you ever seen what a kingfisher does to a minnow when it plucks it out of the water? It's not a pretty sight. Kingfishers don't have beaks lined with felt. When the swoop down on a minnow and nail them with their beak, I don't think they're gonna be gently moving them to a new body of water for release but I could be wrong. Doesn't take much water for a fish, especially an FHM to swim in...

Kingfisher was collecting them as it stood in or near the shallows of pond. Not dive bombing. One by one was transported and released unharmed.

Maybe the fatheads were supposed to be for training young? I know it sounds crazy but we do know a green heron will bring fish into range by probing a stick into the water.

I trust you, Blaine. You big Freak.

Over the years I've read a number of stories like these:

Texas A&M -- Can It Really Rain Fish and Frogs?

Where Fish, Frogs, and a Cow Fell from the Sky -- The Weather Channel

It's Raining Fish

Very interesting Blaine. I've watched kingfishers at my pond many times. I've often seen small fish still wiggling in the beak as the bird flies away. Who knows how the creator actually programed His animals. They certainly have to have a certain amount of intelligence, or they would not survive. Maybe humans have the problem of understanding?

Squirrels, and chipmunks hide seeds for later use.

I know the horizontal pipes on the boat hoist at the lake are usually covered with fish scales during the summer. Kingfishers land there after catching a fish and slam the fish into the pipe to stop if from flopping around.

I think it was starting a new fishery for itself. Forage fish first! Only saw it happen the one time but if it ever happens again, ya'll can rest assured that I'll be recording.

I know you believe me Sunil. I'm sure you've heard that story at least 3 times from me. Takes one to know one.

Word, Mabro! Word!

Its not unusual for animals to be multi-talented. A simple example: A dog can tear you apart with it's teeth, and then pick up a young pup ever so gently.

Interesting story with the kingfisher, much like a dog buries bone or tree rats store nuts.

One of my dogs will not bury a bone if you're watching him. He does not want you to know where he's buried it.

Luna was the same way. She caught on the first time I tried to trick her by walking back inside and peeking around the corner. Never, ever saw where she buried anything. No poo to step in either!

After a bit of training, I just let her run free so she could have some fun.

Yes, we've always trained our dogs not to crap in the yard.

It's the only way to go.

Our dogs go to the very edge of our property to take care of business. Also, sometimes they stay in the house but they were never house trained. No accidents in the house.