Editing Northern pike (section)

==Food==
[[File:NorthernPike.jpg|thumb|Northern pike often rest near the bottom waiting for prey]]

The young, free-swimming pike feed on small invertebrates starting with ''[[Daphnia]]'', and quickly move on to bigger prey, such as ''[[Asellus]]'' and ''[[Gammarus]]''. When the body length is {{convert|4|to|8|cm|abbr=on}}, they start feeding on small fish.

A pike has a very typical hunting behaviour; it is able to remain stationary in the water by moving the last fin rays of the [[dorsal fin]]s and the [[pectoral fin]]s. Before striking, it bends its body and darts out to the prey using the large surface of its [[caudal fin]], dorsal fin, and [[anal fin]] to propel itself. The fish has a distinctive habit of catching its prey sideways in the mouth, immobilising it with its sharp, backward-pointing teeth, and then turning the prey headfirst to swallow it. It eats mainly fish and frogs, but also small [[mammal]]s and [[bird]]s fall prey to pike. Young pike have been found dead from choking on a pike of a similar size, an observation referred to by the English poet [[Ted Hughes]] in his poem "Pike".<ref>[https://poetryarchive.org/poem/pike-with-introduction/ "Pike"] by Ted Hughes. Poem text and audio: Hughes talks about his poem then reads it aloud. PoetryArchive.org. Retrieved 29 April 2025.</ref> Northern pike also feed on [[insect]]s, [[crayfish]], and [[leech]]es.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Esox_lucius/|title = Esox lucius (American pike)| website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> They are not very particular and eat spiny fish like [[perch]], and will even take fish as small as [[stickleback]]s if they are the only available prey.

Pike are known to occasionally hunt and consume larger [[water bird]]s, such as an incident in 2016 when an individual was observed trying to drown and eat a [[great crested grebe]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wideopenspaces.com/hungry-pike-bites-off-can-chew-chokes-bird/|title=Hungry Pike Bites Off More Than It Can Chew, Chokes on Bird|last1=Smola|first1=Travis|date=4 March 2016|website=Wide Open Spaces|access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> an incident in which a pike choked to death after killing and attempting to eat a [[tufted duck]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Duck kills giant pike - Practical Fishkeeping |url=https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/fishkeeping-news/duck-kills-giant-pike/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk}}</ref> as well as an incident in 2015 where an attack by a large pike between three and four feet long was implicated as a possible cause for the injury and death of an adult [[mute swan]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fermanaghherald.com/2015/08/could-castle-archdale-swan-been-killed-by-pike/|title=Could Castle Archdale swan have been killed by a pike?|date=15 August 2015|website=The Fermanagh Herald|access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> on Lower [[Lough Erne]], [[Northern Ireland]], but it is generally believed that such attacks are only rare occurrences.

The northern pike is a largely solitary [[Predatory fish|predator]]. It [[Fish migration|migrates]] during a spawning season, and it follows [[prey fish]] like [[common roach]]es to their deeper winter quarters. Sometimes, divers observe groups of similar-sized pike that cooperate some to start hunting at the same time, so "wolfpack" theories are given. Large pike can be caught on dead immobile fish, so these pike are thought to move about in a rather large territory to find food. Large pike are also known to cruise large water bodies at a few metres deep, probably pursuing schools of prey fish. Smaller pike are more of ambush predators, probably because of their vulnerability to cannibalism. Pike are often found near the exit of [[culvert]]s, which can be attributed to the presence of schools of prey fish and the opportunity for ambush. Being [[potamodromous]], all [[esocid]]s tend to display limited migration, although some local movement may be of key significance for population dynamics. In the Baltic, they are known to follow [[herring]] [[Shoaling and schooling|schools]], so have some seasonal migration.