Can birds carry fish eggs on their feet?

Question

Like how do fish end up in ponds that aren't connected to other water ways. Is this a myth or is it possible a bird could have introduced a new species into a water way?

Answer 1

The idea of birds colonizing water bodies by transporting fish or fish eggs is ridiculous, but its amazing how many people believe this. I guess this why Internet scams work so well - people are extremely gullible.

Most people don't realize how prevalent fish stocking has been, and how many water bodies that are teeming with fish actually have no indigenous fish species. I made a living for a while stocking fish in ponds and lakes, so I know that there are several hundred ponds and lakes that wouldn't have fish if i had not put them there, and my business had many competitors who were doing the same thing. Records of stocking ponds and lakes with fish date back to several hundred years BC. In the past 2,000, people have stocked fish in nearly every water body that can support them.

You may have noticed that none of the answers cite any source documenting fish eggs transported by birds. That's because it doesn't happen - at least not often enough to be a meaningful mechanism for fish colonization. Its not impossible for a fish egg to stick to a birds foot, and get deposited elsewhere, but its close to impossible. Fish-eating birds may occasionally drop a live fish somewhere else, but it doesn't happen often, and it is extremely unlikely that it would happen twice in little pond that is nowhere near another body of water.

Answer 2

I have heard that birds can carry the eggs on their beaks. They get a fish and kill it and fly to another area and take a drink and the eggs wash off of the beak. I have no idea how true that is, but I do know that we have ponds around here and they all have fish in them. Some are stocked with fish by the landowners and some are not, but all will have fish in them.

Also, I once heard a story about a plant in the rainforest called a bromeliad. Actually, there are all sorts of bromeliads, but these were interesting. They do not grow in the soil but grow in trees. The stems of this plant make a place that can hold water (called a tank bromeliad). It is possible to find these plants in the trees with quite a bit of water in them and it is possible to sometimes find small fish living in these spaces. Basically, fish living in trees in the wild. However, I cannot find a reference to this on the web. The point is, how did the fish get into the bromeliad in the tree? The best guess is that it was birds unintentionally depositing the eggs there.

I have also heard that birds will catch live fish and carry them to new ponds and stock the ponds themselves so that there are more places to eat. I don't believe that the birds are that forward thinking. It would be interesting to see a zoology site that confirms this though.

Answer 3

YES If you have ever seen a new pond or small lake built? If so there where no fish in these ponds or lakes but over time the fish show up and it is from birds which carry them on their legs.
WALTER

Answer 4

It is NOT a myth. It is a fact.