Central Park heron swallows huge rat whole

A great blue heron swallowed a huge rat in one gulp in Central Park.

The hungry heron killed the rat on Sunday morning before taking it to the lake to swallow it down.

“Great blue herons eat plenty of fish, but they won’t pass up a meaty and filling New York City rat,” David Barrett of Manhattan Bird Alert tweeted.

The video captures the giant bird holding the rodent, head first, in its mouth before taking a couple of big gulps to swallow its meal whole.

For moments after, the rat’s tail swung out of the heron’s mouth before that too disappeared.