Great Blue Heron Photos: 10 Things I Wish I'd Known Earlier

Wonderful Blue Herons = The 4 Keys to ID

Measurement & Form

Biggest from the North American herons with extensive legs, a sinuous neck, and thick, daggerlike Monthly bill. Head, chest, and wing plumes provide a shaggy visual appeal. In flight, the Great Blue Heron curls its neck into a decent “S” form; its wings are wide and rounded and its legs trail nicely past the tail.

RELATIVE Measurement

Taller and much heavier than a Great Egret; lesser and much less bulky than the usual Sandhill Crane.

Relative Sizegoose or bigger

goose-sized https://we.riseup.net/h2lbijv755 or much larger

MEASUREMENTS

Equally Sexes

Length: 38.two-fifty three.nine in (97-137 cm)

Excess weight: 74.one-88.2 oz (2100-2500 g)

Wingspan: sixty five.8-seventy nine.one in (167-201 cm)

Wonderful Blue Heron

© Michael Todd | Macaulay Library

Color Sample

Fantastic Blue Herons appear blue-grey from the length, with a wide black stripe over the eye. In flight, the upper facet with the wing is 2-toned: pale over the forewing and darker around the flight feathers. A pure white subspecies occurs in coastal southern Florida.

Terrific Blue Heron

© Janis Stone | Macaulay Library

Conduct

Hunting Wonderful Blue Herons wade slowly and gradually or stand statue-like, stalking fish as well as other prey in shallow water or open up fields. Look ahead to the lightning-quick thrust from the neck and head as they stab with their robust expenses. Their incredibly slow wingbeats, tucked-in neck and trailing legs generate an unmistakable graphic in flight.

© Eric Liner | Macaulay Library

Habitat

Search for Great Blue Herons in saltwater and freshwater habitats, from open coasts, marshes, sloughs, riverbanks, and lakes to backyard goldfish ponds. They also forage in grasslands and agricultural fields. Breeding birds gather in colonies or “heronries” to make adhere nests higher off the ground.

Wonderful Blue Heron

© Georgia Gerrior | Macaulay Library

Regional Discrepancies

An all-white subspecies, The good White Heron, is found in coastal parts of southern Florida, along with folks which can be intermediate in plumage (showing a grayish overall body using a mostly white head and neck), called “Würdemann’s Heron.”

Regional Shots

Species In this particular Family members

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns(Purchase: Pelecaniformes, Household: Ardeidae)

Browse Species With this Household

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