MASTER OF ADAPTATION : The Great Blue Heron
MASTER OF ADAPTATION : The Great Blue Heron
If you ’ re quiet enough , patient enough , and know where to look , it ’ s fairly common to spot a Great Blue Heron at McCloud Nature Park and at W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park .
These majestic , colorful birds are really quite amazing when you learn more about them !
“ Adaptable ” is a great way to describe Great Blue Herons . They can flourish in both freshwater and saltwater environments , and they can event hunt for food in agricultural fields and grasslands ! They ’ ll eat just about anything , although they prefer fish . But they ’ ll also eat pretty much anything they can get their beaks on : amphibians , reptiles , small mammals , insects , and even other birds . They have great eyesight , so they can hunt during the day or at night .
Great Blue Herons have really strong jaws ( or “ mandibles ”) that they use on smaller prey , but they also have sharp beaks that they use to stab fish and other prey in the water with a lightning-quick strike before gobbling them down . They ’ ll walk a few feet out into the water and stand very very still . Their skinny little legs look a lot like plant life that grows in ponds and lakes , so fish and other marine wildlife don ’ t realize what they ’ re swimming into .
The heron ’ s long , slender , strong neck gives it quite a large striking range , so when it spots some prey swimming past …… BLAM ! Lunch .
The way that Great Blue Herons start a family is interesting , too . Once or twice a year , a male heron will find a perfect nesting spot – often anywhere from 60 to 100 feet above the ground in a tree ! – and then try to attract a mate . Once a male and a female heron decide to raise a family together , the male goes out and gathers sticks , bringing them back to the female so that she can build a nest .
In anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks , the female has built a nest , and then she ’ ll lay between 2 and 7 pale blue eggs that are each about 2 inches wide and about 3 inches long . Each parent takes turn keeping the eggs warm (“ incubating ” them ) for about a month , and then little fuzzy grey chicks hatch !
It takes the young herons a couple months to learn how to fly . During that time , both parents help feed them . After 2-3 months , the youngsters leave the nest to strike out on their own , and the parents carry on with their lives .
The Great Blue Herons in our parks are used to having humans around , so if you ’ re quiet and calm and approach them very slowly while also keeping a respectable distance , they ’ ll let you get close enough to zoom in on your smartphone and get a pretty good photo . Or , if you ’ re like Traci Patterson and have some really nice camera equipment and a lot of talent and practice , you can get absolutely amazing photos of them , like the ones she has generously shared with us !
Photo by Traci Patterson Photography
Fall 2023 • 21