By Stephen B. (Bowdoinham Community School, Grade 4)
I wanted to study the Great Blue Heron when I saw its 6 foot-wing span and its blue body land on my pond.
The Great Blue Heron has a bluish-gray body. Its Latin name is Ardea and its Greek name is Herodios. It has a black strip over its eye with a white foreneck and a yellowish bill. It also has reddish thighs. It is 39-52 inches tall and the males are slightly bigger than the females.
Great Blue Herons can fly as fast as 19 to 29 m.p.h.The two oldest Herons lived up to 20 to 23 years old.
Herons live on the Continents of North America and South America. Great Blue Herons migrate south in the fall like most of the other birds. The farthest north they would go is Alaska or Quebec.The farthest place south would be Mexico. You would usually find the Great Blue Heron in these places: shallow waters of lakes, shores of marshes, and in protected bays.
Great Blue Herons walk slowly around the water or stand still to catch their prey. If you cut a Great Blue Heron open you would find these animals in its stomach. A heron's stomach would be filled with: fish, amphibians, snakes, small mammals, leaches, frogs, salamanders, reptiles, mice, shrews, insects, some birds, and vegetation.
The nests are made of loose small tree limbs. There are 2-6 bluish eggs in the nest. 69% of the time a new born will not last the first year. These are the location of the nests: rocky ledges, tree tops, duck blinds, sea cliffs.
Sources
Netscape-yahoo
BY KATIE M. (Bowdoinham Community School, Grade 4)
I wanted to study the great blue heron because I live right by the river and have always loved to watch the birds. Now I will tell you about them.
They have long legs to wade in shallow water. They are also the largest heron in North America. They are four feet tall. The heads are white and black and striped on each side. They have yellow eyes. The great blue heron has slender black plumes. Their backs are grayish blue. Their breasts are white streaked, with a black neck. When sleeping their necks are doubled back and rest on their shoulders.
It lives by rivers, lake edges, marshes, salt water shore, and sand swamps. They nest in trees near water. The nests look like delicate platforms of woven dry branches. Normally their nests are near tops of trees. Humans interfere with their habitat.
Heron hunt fishes night and day from dawn to dusk. They have a sharp spear-like bill to catch food. Their diet is made up of fish, frogs, lizards, salamanders, snakes, shrimp, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and aquatic insects.
They breed in March and May; they have 3 to 7 eggs. The young develop fast. At 2 weeks old, between periods of sleeping, they clean themselves and stand with their wing half-opened. At 6 weeks they stay awake when parents are gone and prepare to start flying. At 8 weeks they fly clumsily from tree to tree. The chicks fly at about 2 months. At 10 weeks they leave for good and are independent.
They travel as far North as Newfoundland and Prince William Sound in Alaska and as far as South as Mexico and the West Indies. They nest in colonies in woodlands near their feeding areas where there are few humans and land predators.
They let out a soft (kraakk) when disturbed while flying.
1. Internet, University of Michigan
2. Canadian Wildlife Service
GREAT BLUE HERON
The Great Blue Heron is another frequently observed bird species in Merrymeeting Bay. It is found both as a resident and a migrant in the general area, but is most commonly seen in migration during April and between October and November. In status, it is classified as common.
Herons seek a habitat of shallow waters, especially on the shores of marshes or protected bays. On occasion it is seen feeding in surf. Nest sites are variable, including the ground, rock ledges, tree tops, sea cliffs, duck blinds. Their diet consists of fish, amphibians, snakes, small mammals, crustaceans, leeches, insects, some birds, and some vegetable matter.
The Great Blue Heron is quite adaptable to humans, but there has been some loss of heronries in New England due to cutting of wood lots and real estate development. Pesticide contamination also has diminished their numbers. Like the Bald Eagle, they are high on the food chain and thus susceptible to pesticide accumulation.