Travel & Places Hunting/Shooting

Interesting Facts About the Great Blue Heron

    Hunting

    • The great blue heron can patiently stand motionless for long stretches as it surveys the ground and water below it, waiting for any sign of movement. The heron will wait for minutes until a fish happens by or until the bird decides that nothing is on its way. The heron then moves a few yards and assumes its position again, with only the eyes and the head moving. If prey does come within range, the heron takes a step toward its victim and uncoils its long neck to stab at it with its long bill. A successful heron then swallows its meal headfirst. On occasion, the heron will swallow a fish too large, resulting in the bird choking--sometimes to death.

    Varied Diets

    • Although fish and frogs make up the bulk of most great blue herons' diet, the bird, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, will adapt if other sources of food are abundant. Voles, small creatures closely resembling mice, are among those animals herons will opt for. Some herons will eat lizards and small snakes, as well as other birds.

    Heron Sounds

    • The sounds a great blue heron makes are typically loud when it breaks its silent demeanor. The bird, when startled while in flight, will produce a noise like "auuuk" and as it approaches its mate while nesting, the heron goes "roh-roh", according to the Hinterland Who's Who site. As the bird flies, it will sometimes emit a random "eeee" sound.

    Threats to Herons

    • The full-grown great blue heron does not have many enemies in the wild. The only raptor large and strong enough to kill one is an eagle. The young and the eggs in the nest are subject to predation from birds such as crows, ravens, owls and hawks. The raccoon will raid a heron nest, eat the eggs and carry off the fledglings. Cold weather that comes after chicks hatch can kill them, as can heavy rain. Starvation, drainage of habitat and the disturbance of nesting sites are also problems this species encounters.

    Geography

    • The great blue heron will breed as far north as southern Alaska and throughout most of Central Canada. The bird typically heads south from inland locations, as the freeze prevents it from accessing the water. Those herons banded for study in Canada have flown as far south as places like Honduras and Cuba. Sometimes a heron will opt to stay in a cold weather location, but severe weather can wind up making this a fatal mistake.

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