Grey Heron
The Grey Heron is a large bird, standing up to 39 inches tall and measuring 33 to 40 inches long with a 61 to 77 inch wingspan. Its plumage is largely ashy-grey above and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have a white head with a broad black supercilium that terminates in a slender, dangling crest and a white neck with bluish-black streaks on the front. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults with a grey head and neck and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight and powerful and is brighter in colour in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.
The Grey Heron has a slow flight with its long neck retracted (S-shaped). This is characteristic of herons and bitterns and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, and spoonbills which extend their necks. It flies with slow wing-beats and sometimes glides for short distances or soars and circles to considerable heights. It often perch in trees but also spends much of the time on the ground, striding about or standing still for long periods with an upright stance often on a single leg.
The Grey Heron has an extensive range throughout most of the Palearctic. The range extends to 70° north in Norway and 66° north in Sweden but otherwise its northerly limit is around 60° north across the rest of Europe and Asia eastwards as far as the Ural Mountains. To the south, its range extends to northern Spain, France, central Italy, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, India and Myanmar (Burma). It is also present in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the Canary Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and many of the Mediterranean islands.
Over much of its range, the Grey Heron is resident but birds from the more northerly parts of Europe migrate southwards, some remaining in central and southern Europe with others travelling on to Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Within its range, the Grey Heron can be found anywhere with suitable watery habitat that can supply its food such as lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers, marshes, ponds, ditches, flooded areas, coastal lagoons, estuaries and the sea shore. Breeding colonies are usually near feeding areas but exceptionally may be up to 5 miles away and birds sometimes forage as much as 10 miles from the nesting site.
Fish, amphibians, small mammals and insects are taken in shallow water with the Grey Heron's long bill. It has also been observed catching and killing juvenile birds such as ducklings and occasionally takes birds up to the size of a Water Rail. It may stand motionless in the shallows or on a rock or sandbank beside the water, waiting for prey to come within striking distance. Alternatively, it moves slowly and stealthily through the water with its body less upright than when at rest and its neck curved in an "S". It is able to straighten its neck and strike with its bill with great rapidity.
Small fish are swallowed head first and larger prey and eels are carried to the shore where they are subdued by being beaten on the ground or stabbed by the bill. They are then swallowed or have hunks of flesh torn off. The bird regurgitates pellets of indigestible material such as fur, bones and the remains of insects. The main periods of hunting are around dawn and dusk but it is also active at other times of day.
The Grey Heron breeds in colonies known as heronries which are usually situated in high trees close to its feeding habitat. Other sites are sometimes chosen and these include low trees and bushes, bramble patches, reed beds, heather clumps and cliff ledges. The same nest is used year after year until it is blown down. It starts as a small platform of sticks but expands into a bulky nest as more material is added in subsequent years. It may be lined with smaller twigs, strands of root or dead grasses. The male usually collects the material while the female constructs the nest. In continental Europe and elsewhere, nesting colonies sometimes include nests of the Purple Heron and other heron and egret species. Breeding activities take place between February and June. A clutch of usually 3 to 5 eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for a period of about 25 days and then both feed the chicks which fledge when 7 or 8 weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter but if they do they can expect to live for about 5 years.
Date: 17th November 2012
Location: Loch Spelve, Mull, Argyll
The Grey Heron has a slow flight with its long neck retracted (S-shaped). This is characteristic of herons and bitterns and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, and spoonbills which extend their necks. It flies with slow wing-beats and sometimes glides for short distances or soars and circles to considerable heights. It often perch in trees but also spends much of the time on the ground, striding about or standing still for long periods with an upright stance often on a single leg.
The Grey Heron has an extensive range throughout most of the Palearctic. The range extends to 70° north in Norway and 66° north in Sweden but otherwise its northerly limit is around 60° north across the rest of Europe and Asia eastwards as far as the Ural Mountains. To the south, its range extends to northern Spain, France, central Italy, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, India and Myanmar (Burma). It is also present in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the Canary Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and many of the Mediterranean islands.
Over much of its range, the Grey Heron is resident but birds from the more northerly parts of Europe migrate southwards, some remaining in central and southern Europe with others travelling on to Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Within its range, the Grey Heron can be found anywhere with suitable watery habitat that can supply its food such as lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers, marshes, ponds, ditches, flooded areas, coastal lagoons, estuaries and the sea shore. Breeding colonies are usually near feeding areas but exceptionally may be up to 5 miles away and birds sometimes forage as much as 10 miles from the nesting site.
Fish, amphibians, small mammals and insects are taken in shallow water with the Grey Heron's long bill. It has also been observed catching and killing juvenile birds such as ducklings and occasionally takes birds up to the size of a Water Rail. It may stand motionless in the shallows or on a rock or sandbank beside the water, waiting for prey to come within striking distance. Alternatively, it moves slowly and stealthily through the water with its body less upright than when at rest and its neck curved in an "S". It is able to straighten its neck and strike with its bill with great rapidity.
Small fish are swallowed head first and larger prey and eels are carried to the shore where they are subdued by being beaten on the ground or stabbed by the bill. They are then swallowed or have hunks of flesh torn off. The bird regurgitates pellets of indigestible material such as fur, bones and the remains of insects. The main periods of hunting are around dawn and dusk but it is also active at other times of day.
The Grey Heron breeds in colonies known as heronries which are usually situated in high trees close to its feeding habitat. Other sites are sometimes chosen and these include low trees and bushes, bramble patches, reed beds, heather clumps and cliff ledges. The same nest is used year after year until it is blown down. It starts as a small platform of sticks but expands into a bulky nest as more material is added in subsequent years. It may be lined with smaller twigs, strands of root or dead grasses. The male usually collects the material while the female constructs the nest. In continental Europe and elsewhere, nesting colonies sometimes include nests of the Purple Heron and other heron and egret species. Breeding activities take place between February and June. A clutch of usually 3 to 5 eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for a period of about 25 days and then both feed the chicks which fledge when 7 or 8 weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter but if they do they can expect to live for about 5 years.
Date: 17th November 2012
Location: Loch Spelve, Mull, Argyll
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Also in: Herons and egrets
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