Virtua Gallery - A photographic Journal

The Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common over most of North and
Central America - as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands, except for the far north and deserts and
high mountains  where there is no water for it to feed in.

Click “Read more” to learn about this guy - or click here for the Gallery. Better do both.
Uh - the great info on this bird is courtesy Wikipedia. Pics of course are ripped from other sites mine!!

It is the largest North American heron, with a head-to-tail length of 91-137 cm
(36-54 in), a wingspan of 180 cm (71 in), and a weight of 2.2-3.6 kg (4.8-8
lbs). It is blue-gray overall, with black flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and
a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with
black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white
face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of
the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like; it also has
plumes on the lower back at the start of the breeding season. The bill is dull
yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the
lower legs gray, also becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season.
Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, and the
flank pattern only weakly defined; they have no plumes, and the bill is dull
gray-yellow.

There are five subspecies:
* Ardea herodias herodias Linnaeus, 1758. Most of North America, except as below.
* Ardea herodias fannini Chapman, 1901. The Pacific Northwest from southern Alaska south to Washington; coastal.
* Ardea herodias wardi Ridgway, 1882. Kansas and Oklahoma to northern Florida.
* Ardea herodias occidentalis Audubon, 1835. Southern Florida, Caribbean Islands.
* Ardea herodias cognata Bangs, 1903. Galápagos Islands.

The subspecies differ only slightly in size and plumage tone, with the exception
of subspecies occidentalis, which as well as normal colored birds, also has a
distinct a white morph, known as the Great White Heron. This was long thought to
be a separate species, and is mainly found near salt water. Birds intermediate
between the normal morph and the white morph are known as Wurdemann’s Heron; in
these only the head is white.

Call

The call is a harsh croak; they are most vocal during the breeding season, but
will call occasionally at any time of the year in territorial disputes or if
disturbed.

Habitat

The Great blue Heron is found throughout most of North America, including
Alaska, British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The range extends south
through Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean to South America. Great Blue Herons
can be found in a range of habitats, in fresh and saltwater marshes, mangrove
swamps, flooded meadows, lake edges, or shorelines, but they always live near
bodies of water. Generally, they nest in trees or bushes that stand near a body
of water. In general, what is shared in common is that all must be near or on a
site of water for a living area (nest.)

Diet

The primary food for Great Blue Heron is small fish, though they are also known
to eat shellfish, insects, rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and small birds.[4] It
is generally a solitary feeder. Individuals usually forage while standing in
water, but will also forage in fields or drop from the air, or a perch, into
water. As large wading birds, Great Blue Herons are able to feed in deeper
waters, and thus are able to exploit a niche not open to most other heron
species.

It feeds in shallow water or at the water’s edge during both the night and the
day, but especially around dawn and dusk. Herons locate their food by sight and
generally swallow it whole. Herons have been known to choke on prey that is too
large. It uses its long legs to wade through shallow water, and spears fish or
frogs with its long, sharp bill.

Breeding

This species usually breeds in monospecific colonies, in trees close to lakes or
other wetlands; often with other species of herons.

These groups are called heronry (more accurately than “rookery”). The size of
these colonies may be large, ranging between 5-500 nests per colony, with an
average of approximately 160 nests per colony.

Great Blues build a bulky stick nest, and the female lays three to six pale blue
eggs. One brood is raised each year. If the nest is abandoned or destroyed, the
female may lay a replacement clutch. Reproduction is negatively affected by
human disturbance, particularly during the beginning of nesting. Repeated human
intrusion into nesting areas often results in nest failure, with abandonment of
eggs or chicks.

Both parents feed the young at the nest by regurgitating food. Parent birds have
been shown to consume up to 4 times as much food when they are feeding young
chicks than when laying or incubating eggs.

Eggs are incubated for approximately 15 days and hatch asynchronously over a
period of several days. The first chick to hatch usually becomes more
experienced in food handling and aggressive interactions with siblings, and so
often grows more quickly than the other chicks.

Migration

Birds east of the Rockies in the northern part of their range are migratory and
winter in Central America or northern South America. From the southern United
States southwards, and on the Pacific coast, they are year-round residents.

It has been recorded as a vagrant in Greenland, Hawaii, and the Azores.

Similar species

The Great Blue Heron is replaced in the Old World by the very similar Grey
Heron, which differs in being somewhat smaller (90-98 cm), with a pale gray neck
and legs, lacking the browner colors that Great Blue Heron has there. It forms a
superspecies with this and also with the Cocoi Heron from South America, which
differs in having more extensive black on the head, and a white breast and neck.

The “Great White Heron” could be confused with Great Egret but is larger, with
yellow legs as opposed to the Great Egret’s black legs. The Reddish Egret and
Little Blue Heron could be mistaken for the Great Blue Heron, but are smaller,
and lack white on the head and yellow in the bill.