Great Blue Heron

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeidae

Genus: Ardea

Species: A. herodias

Identifying Characteristics:

- Large wading bird

- height: heard to tail it's 91-140 cm (36-55 in), wingspan of 167-201 cm (66-79 in)

- Notable features: slaty flight feathers, 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.

- bill/beak: dull yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season

- legs: lower legs are gray, becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season

-stride: around 22 cm, almost in a straight line. Two of the three front toes are generally closer together. In a tack the front toes as well as the back often show the small talons

Special Characteristics:

- The Great Blue Heron is found throughout most of North America

- Habitats: found in either fresh and saltwater marshes, mangrove swamps, flooded meadows, lake edges, or shorelines

-usually nest in trees or bushes

- Diet: small fish,shrimp, crab, aquatic insects, rodents, other small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and small birds.

- Herons locate their food by sight and usually swallow it whole. Individuals usually forage while standing in water, but will also feed in fields or drop from the air, or a perch, into water.

- Herons usually breed in colonies, in trees close to lakes or other wetlands

- They build a bulky stick nest, and the female lays three to sex pale blue eggs. One brood is raised each year