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Picture PerfectGo behind the scenes of our photo contest with the Smithsonian Channel's full-length show featuring the judges and a winning photographer in action |
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Comments (10)
In Japan, the cormorants have rings inserted in their throats so they cannot swallow the fish.
Posted by Marjorie Ando on March 4,2012 | 05:40 PM
Ever since hearing about the unpublished Sherlock Holmes adventure of "The Politician, the Lighthouse, and the Trained Cormorant" I have wondered about the practice but had never seen an image of such. I image that the netted bird has snagged a fish too large for it to swallow, allowing the fish to be easily extracted by the fisherperson.
Posted by Kev N on July 31,2011 | 11:06 AM
My favorite!
Posted by Deborah Taylor on March 29,2011 | 01:49 AM
Hello everyone,
My name is Jesse Rhodes and I am an editorial assistant at Smithsonian magazine. The birds are indeed cormorants and the caption has been updated. Thank you all for your help in spotting the error.
Posted by Jesse Rhodes on March 4,2011 | 04:02 PM
They definitely are cormorants. It would be quite amazing to see a trained osprey perform the same service. I've always been curious about this Asian practice of using birds to catch fish. I would think it would not be easy to dislodge the fish from the birds throat as the fist most likely went down head first, which means it has to come out backwards and with those pointed fins I would think this would make a mess of the bird's throat. Unless the man turns the fish in the birds throat and then has the bird regurgitate it. I once saw a great blue heron eat a squirrel. That was a real surprise.
Posted by Joe Piluso on March 3,2011 | 10:56 PM
They are cormorants. The Japanese also used to use them to catch fish.
Posted by Susan on March 3,2011 | 05:48 PM
They are cormorants. A little ironic, here, as I think I recall a Smithsonian story of a few years back, describing fishermen using cormorants in this manner.
Posted by Steven Jenkins on March 3,2011 | 05:24 PM
Yes, they are cormorant. The Chinese have been using them for centuries to catch fish by putting a band around their neck so they can't fully swallow the fish.
Posted by Jonathan Lavan on March 3,2011 | 05:07 PM
I believe you are correct. They are definitely not osprey.
Posted by Eleanor on March 3,2011 | 03:52 PM
But aren't these are cormorants of some sort, certainly not osprey?
Posted by Brent Harsh on March 1,2011 | 12:21 AM