Great Blue Heron- A Powerbird

The tall, long-legged great blue heron is the most common and largest of North American herons.

I first became familiar with Great Blue Herons when I moved to the Champlain Islands of Vermont. We soon noticed large, prehistoric-looking birds, with long necks cocked back, flying past in the wind several times a day. Although ungainly looking in the air the birds are magnificent to watch on the ground. Great Blue Herons are waders, typically seen along coastlines, in marshes, or near the shores of ponds or streams and they are expert fishers.

Herons catch live food by walking slowly, or standing still for long periods of time and waiting for fish to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills. They deliver a deathblow with a quick thrust of the sharp bill, and the prey is swallowed whole. They can even choke to death by attempting to swallow fish too large for their long, S-shaped necks. Though they primarily eat fish, mice constitute a large part of their diet, and they also eat insects and other small creatures.

Great Blue Herons’ grow up to to 4.5 feet long with a wingspan up to 6.6 feet wide although I have seen some that I swear are larger than that.  They can cruise at up to to 30 miles AT 32 miles per hour.

They hunt alone, but typically nest in colonies. They prefer to nest in tall trees, but also nest in low shrubs. After females produce two to seven eggs both parents protect and incubate. Chicks can survive on their own by about two months of age.

There are approximately 700 known breeding pairs on the Islands of Lake Champlain according to Audubon Vermont. Unfortunately, invasive birds such as the Double Breasted Cormorant are known to threaten the herons, building nests in their rookeries. But the story isn’t over yet. Apparently a surging Bald Eagle population is preying on cormorants, and beginning to keep their population in check. Lately we have heard that the herons are much rarer than they were ten or 20 years ago. Ecosystems are complex though and we will have to wait and see if the Great Blue Heron population stays healthy.

Video: utlaw97, youtube

Tags: bald eagles, cormorants, lake champlain, vermont great blue heron

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 8:46 pm and is filed under General News, Vermont. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.