Great Blue Herons

(Species Spotlight from the Three Rivers Avian Center Newsletter)

Scientific Name: Ardea herodias

Appearance: Adults are tall, lean, long-legged birds with grayish-blue appearance, yellow legs and a sharply pointed but sturdy yellow & dark colored bill. Adults have long streaming feathers off the top of the head that may or may not be quickly noticeable. Males and females look the same. SOME Great Blues are actually white in color (a morph of the more commonly seen grayish blue). Herons fly with their long necks in a tight "s" shape, so that their head is facing forward from almost between the shoulder blades and their legs trail behind. Size: Stands approx. 4 feet tall, the body is about the size of a goose. Wingspread can measure up to 7 feet, the neck and bill can measure in excess of 3 1/2 feet.

Range: from NE Alaska to Mexico, Galapagos Islands and the West Indies. These birds can also be found throughout West Virginia.

Food preferences: mostly fish, as well as mice, nestlings, small mammals in general, aquatic invertebrates, insects and other assorted opportunistic-type foods - including human food scraps, snails.

Hunting Technique: Often wades into shallow water and stands very still, watching for prey; or may hunt on land or from a perch above the water surface. Can be seen during either night or day, and are most active at dusk and dawn. When it sees a fish or other prey it will use its bill like a combination spear and huge needle-nosed pliers to spear or grab its prey. Bill has small serrations along the inner edges that angle towards the back of the mouth to help keep the prey from easily escaping. Their long necks and bills enable this bird to capture prey over 4 feet away.

Breeding & Habitat: freshwater & brackish marshes, lakes, ponds, swamps, rivers, often seen in wooded areas with water nearby, may be seen in both saltwater and freshwater habitats.

Nesting: Often out on a limb in a deciduous tree 30 - 70 feet tall on a ridge top or sometimes in a shrub or on ground. Nest is a platform-type stick nest about 18 inches to 4 feet across, lined with twigs and leaves. Nests are often reused from year to year, and adults will repair nests with green needles. Both sexes build the nest, nests are usually in colonies.

Eggs: average 3 - 5 eggs per clutch although nests with 1 - 7 eggs have been recorded, only 1 clutch per year. Eggs are pale blue-green to pale olive. Males & females both incubate, turning the eggs every 2 hours on average.

Chicks: hatch after 28 days of incubation, into semialtrical (downy chicks are immobile at hatching, but eyes are open) They rely on both parents for regurgitated food, usually consisting mainly of fish. Chicks are fledged out at 56 - 60 days. Most chicks abandon the nest after 64 - 90 days.

Status: Although the adults are not uncommon at all, confirmed sightings of young, nest sites, breeding or nesting behaviors are uncommon. If you see any of these behaviors or see the young, please call Jim Phillips at (304) 466 - 1275.

Notes: Great Blue Herons can live to be over 20 years old and have been clocked flying at speeds in excess of 35 mph. We have seen these wonderful birds many times at the Center, tangled fatally in fishing line, or after having collided with power poles, power lines or vehicles. Polluted waters have lead in some cases to high toxin levels with some individuals, making them sick.