Gray Heron is a beautiful and very careful bird. She was constantly on the alert due to the sad experience of her ancestors, who almost disappeared from the face of the Earth in the past. In the mating season, the plumage on the head looks especially beautiful in birds. It is these trophies that have long been hunted by people, not giving herons the opportunity to sit offspring. Ladies used feathers mined by hunters as a decoration for their hats. Thanks to the timely measures taken to protect birds, herons now live and breed.
Gray Heron: Description
Talking about these creatures is a pleasure! They are graceful and beautiful, they have some kind of aristocracy in appearance. Heron is a large long-legged bird. The weight of an adult reaches 2 kg, the length is 90-100 cm, and the wingspan reaches 175-200 cm.
The heron’s head is rather narrow, decorated with a huge beak, pinkish with yellowness, resembling more a dagger than that which serves as a nose and mouth in birds. On the back of the head there is a “pigtail”, a black bunch of feathers hanging down. The neck is very long and flexible, bending backward during the flight. The head, neck and bottom of the body are dirty white, dark streaks are visible in front. The color of the feathers of the rest
of the body is gray and blue. Paws are also gray with a yellow tint. In the mating season, the bird looks very beautiful, the color of the beak becomes much brighter and the famous "pigtail" blossoms.
Gray Heron Habitats
This beautiful bird can be found in the sparing climate of Europe and Asia, the African continent also boasts such residents. In countries where water in ponds freezes in winter, gray heron flies away to winter in Africa. Russia is also on the list of cold countries, so the birds spend only 6-7 months here, bring their offspring and fly to rest in a hot country with ostriches and hippos, but in spring we meet them again. The colony of gray herons does not change their place of residence, these birds are very devoted to their nests.
Common places where birds live - the shores of all kinds of water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, streams, swamps. There is no difference, if only there was water, even fresh, even salty. There is only one condition when choosing a reservoir, it should be with shallow water, which serves as a kind of heron for the heron, where she feeds.
Can a heron sing?
The gray heron, the description of which allows you to imagine a beautiful, long-legged, proud bird, unfortunately, is deprived of his voice. Simply put, she does not know how to sing, quite the contrary, she wants to close her ears from her cries. Especially if you are lucky enough to be near the colony of these pit singers, they behave there very noisily. The time of roosting and feeding the chicks is accompanied by their loud screams, they also like to shout during the flight, often at dusk. Herons make hoarse, harsh and croaking sounds, which are heard as a "frock." These are the performers of the songs!
Artful Heron Bird Hunter
Throughout the world they know that the heron is considered the most dexterous hunter. This bird is looking for prey in shallow water. Thanks to excellent eyesight and a sharp beak like a dagger, the gray earner never remains without food. None of the water flesh is safe from a lightning strike.
Slowly and silently a feathered predator moves along its “dining room” on the water, trying to look out for its prey. If the victim is too big, the gray heron, without bewilderment, immediately with force strikes it with its beak or shakes its head from side to side, trying to kill, before having lunch.
The bird swallows its prey whole head first. The diet of gray heron is quite diverse, but it can not be called a vegetarian. Her favorite food is fish, eels, tailless amphibians. In addition to these delicacies, the heron's menu may include: insects, reptiles, crustaceans and small rodents.
Mating season
Gray heron very interestingly behaves during the mating season. The male builds a nest. If the birds hibernated elsewhere, then the strong sex of the birds arrives at the nesting area first and immediately tries to take a better nest. If this does not turn out to be, the male, like a real man, will build it himself.
The next stage of the mating ceremony is that the female, after looking at herself a male with a good "house", flies up to him, asking for a wife, but for the first time he will certainly drive her away. To achieve the location of the owner of the nest, the bride must be persistent and patient. Having driven the female out several times in a row, the male will finally let her into his territory. This kind of matchmaking ends here, and the couple creates a family, but such a marriage lasts no longer than a year. The next season, birds are waiting for new games and other partners.
Gray Herons - Exemplary Parents
A gray heron displays chicks only once a year, and in those rare cases when the offspring have failed, a second attempt is made. These long-legged birds are exemplary parents, their care for offspring is displayed at the very beginning, when the nest is being built. The “house” of the gray heron is a whole impregnable fortress, at the same time it is a reliable and cozy refuge for chicks. The nest is very large, with a diameter of about 80 cm, a height of about 60 cm, the middle is lined with reeds and grass. The dwelling is being built at high altitude.
Eggs are laid one after another every 2 days, in total 3 to 5 eggs hatch. In the incubation, which lasts 26 days, both father and mother take part. The appeared chicks are covered with a gray fluff, plumage begins to appear after about a week.
Caring parents do not leave the kids alone in the nest for 20 days, nursing them in turn, so that neither rain nor the scorching sun will harm the chicks. When the kids want to eat, they start pounding the beaks of their parents with small beaks. On duty dad or on duty mom burp them food right in the beak. Little gray herons begin to fly after 50-55 days.
These long-legged birds are used to being careful and do not let a person get closer than 200 m, but scientists managed to open the veil and find out many interesting things from the life of the gray heron. The animal world is so beautiful and so exciting!