Reynold N Cal’s scientific contributions

We report the first documented event of a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) hunting in a cave. Using trail cameras, these observations were captured at Runaway Creek Nature Reserve (RCNR) in central Belize. In April 2023, we observed a first-year juvenile tigerheron using a cave as a feeding site for approximately 29 h over 16 separate occasions. At the beginning of the first day of observations, a juvenile tiger-heron captured a false firemouth (Amphilophus robertsoni) in the twilight zone of the cave, which was followed by seven subsequent video segments where a juvenile approached the water’s edge in a hunting gait. Combined with the identification of heron tracks within a nearby cave a year prior, our observations suggest that cave use by herons may be more frequent than previously reported. As cave entrances are characterized by low-light conditions during the day and roughly 81% of the observations occurred during non-twilight daytime hours, we discuss how cave habitats may extend the foraging period for some crepuscular-foraging avian species. Continuing to monitor RCNR caves and expanding trail camera monitoring efforts to additional flooded and/or stream caves across Belize will serve to assess the frequency of cave use by T. mexicanum and other avian species.