An active rookery is busy because the environment is right for safe nesting. Trees, surrounded by water, Alligators below to ensure nothing attacks from below, and many other factors.
It also means the birds have neighbors, lots of them.
Every bird there is a predator. That means at some point something will happen.
The images above show Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Anhinga. Almost on top of each other. Each rookery tree is the same, precious real estate.
The good news, after a while the surviving young are big enough to protect themselves, and join in the fray.
I visited the Venice, FL rookery and was amazed by the number of birds and the amount of action as they dealt with neighbors that were always too close and frequently contentious.
The siblings can be as dangerous as other species. Maybe more so.
You sqaukin’ ta me?
They never fail to make me laugh.