Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Ardea

Audio for Species

Call
Call

from Macaulay Library

Species Related Links

Additional Great Blue Heron Pictures

Description

Length: 38.2-53.9 in (97-137 cm) Weight: 74.1-88.2 oz (2100-2500 g) Wingspan: 65.7-79.1 in (167-201 cm)

Blue-gray wing feathers; the "S" shaped neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a white face and crown, and a pair of black adornments running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long plumes; it also has plumage on the lower back at the beginning of the breeding season. The bill is long and thick, yellowish becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the lower legs gray, becoming orangey at the same time. Immature birds are duller in color, a gray crown; they have no plumes, and a dark upper bill.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

They are common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. Great Blue Heron usually nest in trees near the water. Clutch size is 2 to 6 eggs, that are pale blue in color.