Bird: Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)

Height: 50"

Description: Large heron; gray-blue. Gray-blue head with a black crown ending in ornate plumes. Chin is white. Beak is yellowish with a dark top. Beak of non-breeding bird is yellowish overall. Eyes are bright yellow. Body, breast and back are gray-blue. Breeding bird has elegant plumes on neck and a lighter head. Legs are long, gray, and stick-like. A white morph of the Great Blue Heron is found exclusively in the Florida Keys. It can be distinguished from the Great Egret by its orange, instead of dark, legs.

Voice: A short barking sound, or a gutteral "raah" or "ahh, ahh, ahh". Audio is available at eNature.com.

Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, FL

Feeding: Stalks on land or wades in shallow or deep water to catch small to large fish, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, small birds, and insects. I've seen Great Blue Herons wading so deep that they appear to be swimming like an oversized duck. There's a white morph of the Great Blue called the Great White Heron that's found in the Florida Keys, and that is not a shy bird. A friend of mine was fishing as a child and had one sneak up behind him until it could almost put its beak on his shoulder. It announced itself with a loud and sudden shriek, not to be ignored or missed, and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to steal the fish that were pulled in.

Other Behavior: The Great Blue Heron is a graceful bird and its size and wingspan make it very impressive in flight. They fly with their necks pulled back into an "S" shape. They are very adaptable and are found over a large range. They nest and roost in colonies.

John Prince Park in Lake Worth, FL

Click here for more information on the Great Blue Heron from eNature.com

The Great Blue Heron has a wide variety of prey. One morning, Reid Williamson of Annandale, Virginia and I watched a Great Blue eat a ribbon snake and then immediately catch a water snake. Both snakes were three feet long and were swallowed head first. Reid made the image to the right through a scope (thus the vignetting). I've also heard quite a few accounts of Great Blue Herons spearing and eating sizeable soft shelled turtles. Mark Eidemiller caught the event on film (see below).

I have never seen a Great Blue Heron challenge a bird of any other species while feeding, but I've also never seen any other bird fail to yield to it. Once I saw a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron meet while wading in opposite directions around the islands in front of the second gazebo. Upon seeing one another, they both stopped and stared without moving or making a sound. After about two silent minutes, the Great Egret stepped aside and the Blue Heron walked past cautiously.

I have bad luck taking pictures of Great Blue Herons at Wakodahatchee. The first two photographs on this page were taken at other locations. Wakodahatchee Great Blues either stand just out of range of my lens or squawk and fly away the minute I have everything composed.