Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
39.8718, -86.1335
Field Notes
Description:
The Great Blue Heron is the largest and most widespread heron in North America. It is a large bird, with a slate-gray body, chestnut and black accents, and very long legs and an "S"-shaped neck. Great Blue Herons are very tall and stand 38-54 inches (97-137 cm).
Habitat:
This bird was spotted on the banks of the White River, the main river running though central Indiana. This specific one was located in Broad Ripple, located north of Indianapolis.
Notes:
Diet: Eats mostly fish, but also frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, insects, rodents.
The Great Blue Heron is a generalist in its habitat selection. Its long legs and large size allow it to feed from deep water to dry land. It uses freshwater and salt marshes, freshwater and mangrove swamps, estuaries, meadows, flooded agricultural fields and pastures, ditches, island shores, river banks, lake edges.
These birds do have some predators, as crows and raccoons can eat blue heron eggs, but generally do not have many natural predators in the Indiana region. However, areas in the southern parts of the United States are heavily populated with Crocodiles, which pray largely on unsuspecting blue herons in areas such as The Everglades in Florida, USA.
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