Appearance
Adult height approximately 4 ft. Mostly blue-grey in color with a white head and face; black
crest and belly. Legs long and grayish. Yellow bill is long and pointed When flying, the head is pulled
back to the shoulders and its long legs trailing behind. It can be seen standing tall in shallow
water or even floating along like a goose. It is also able to take off from the surface of the
water.
Food
Feeds on frogs, snakes, mice and birds as well as the fish it catches by spearing or sissoring with
its long bill. It may either stand and wait motionless for its prey or slowly stalk after
it.
Habitat and Breeding
Freshwater ponds, lakes and marshes as well as salt marshes. Favors remote or inaccessable
places. Breeding habitat is in forested areas near the water in April and May. Nests in colonies
with other herons, egrets, pelicans and the like. The male will bring the female nesting material to
build the nest. The nest of sticks and twigs is built at the top of a tree and may be re-used year
after year and so become quite large. Three to seven pale green eggs are incubated by both
parents for 28 days. | 
Great Blue Heron |
Reader's Digest North American Wildlife, Audubon Handbook: Eastern
Birds, Peterson's Bird's Nests: United States east of the Mississippi and Birds of
America
Appearance
16-22- a crow-sized bird which has the look of a bittern. A dark bird with a black crown and
back and wings of a dark greyish-green or -blue. The face and neck area is chestnut colored.
The long pointed bill is dark or black-looking while the legs are a bright orange.
Food
The main food of the Green Heron is fish, though it will also eat small land mammals, which is
usually searches for while on the muddy edges of ponds or streams. It will also fish from low
perches on snags or posts. It will stretch out its head and neck after finding a fish and will flick its
short tail and take a few exagerated cautious steps then jab out its bill to capture the
fish. | 
Eastern Green Heron Babies |
Habitat and Breeding
Lives in freshwater or brackish marshes where it feeds along the edges of the water. Prefers thick
bushes or trees for nesting, usually overhanging the water. The male selects the site and begins
the building. After mating, the male will bring material to the female. The lining, if any, is added
later. The nest is loosely built of sticks. Both parents share the incubation of the 3-6 pale blue or
green eggs for the 19-21 days until hatching. Sometimes there are two broods in a
season.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern
Region, Birds of North America, Peterson's Bird's Nests: United States east of the Mississippi
and Reader's Digest North American Wildlife.
Appearance
The Black-crowned Night Heron is a short, squat bird that stands about 23-26 inches tall.It has a
thick bill and short legs. The adult plumage is black and green with slender white plumes rising
from the black crest on its head. The legs and feet are green, but during the breeding season they turn a bright yellow or red.
Food
Mostly the Night heron feeds at dawn or at dusk, but if there are young, the bird may hunt all
night. Its main food supply is fish, frogs and aquatic insects and their larvae, but it will also eat
small mammals, birds and spiders as well as occassionally eating the young of others in its nesting
colony. | 
Black-crowned Night Heron |
When feeding, the heron will stand with its wings outstretched and its head under them so
that its eyes are shaded and it can better see its prey. The heron has even been known to lure fish
by dropping food scraps or even feathers into the water.
Habits and Breeding
The Night Heron can be found in wetlands throughout the world. It prefers areas with dense
vegetation such as swamps and marshes or overgrown riverbanks. It spends the day roosting in a
bush or tree, often in a group of several hundred. Those here in North America migrate south in
the winter.
Each male bird establishes a territory in the nesting colony and defends it against other
males. When he finds a female they are often found rubbing bills and nibbling feathers as signs of
affection. The male will gather sticks and twigs for her to weave into her nest, which is a rather
flimsy, messy platform usually built in a bush or reedbed close to the water. Sometimes it may be
up to 150 feet up in a tree.
The female lays 3-5 blue-green eggs at 48-hour intervals. Both parents incubate the eggs
for 3-4 weeks. The delay between eggs gives some of the chicks a better chance for survival if
there is a shortage of food. The chicks leave the nest at about 3 weeks of age to climb around in
nearby branches, but they still return to the nest for food. They will not fly until they are 6 weeks
old.
Wildlife Fact-file packet 18.
Appearance
Adult size: 23-34 inches. Has a heavy body and rather short legs--in flight it appears pot-bellied.
Wings are rounded. Plumage is streaked with shades of brown and buff with a dark cap and white on sides of chin. Bill is yellowish while legs are green. Walks with bill pointed upward. When alarmed it may flush or freeze with its bill and neck upward in an attempt to blend with the
surrounding reeds.
Food
Habitat and Breeding
Lives in dense marshes with cattails and bulrushes and other thickets that it can use for cover.
Mating call is a low, hollow-sounding chant that is repeated several times at twilight or at
night; it almost sounds like a old hand-pumped water pump.
The nest is a platform built from plants on wet ground by the female. They can be found in
loose colonies, but are also solitary nesters. The female lays and incubates 3-7 buff-colored eggs.
She will sit on them for 28 days.
Birds of America, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, Peterson's
Bird's Nests: United States east of the Mississippi and Audubon Handbook: Eastern
Birds.
Appearance
Adult length: 11-14 inches. Small and thin bodied. Male has black cap and back with chestnut
neck and a yellow-buff underside. White streaking covers the throat down to the vent area.
Females are duller in color.
Food
Habitat and Breeding
The Least Bittern lives mainly in freshwater marshes and sedgy bogs, but will visit salt marshes.
It will often climb to the top of reeds and cling there. When it flies, its legs dangle down and its
neck is outstretched.
Nest is a flimsy creation built above the water by both of the adults. The Least Bittern is a
solitary nester, but in prime nesting areas they may be highly concentrated.. The 4-6 white eggs
washed with blue are incubated by both parents for 17-18 days. During this time, the adults will
land a distance from the nest and then walk to it to help prevent it from being
discovered. | 
Eastern Least Bittern |
Birds of America, Peterson's Bird's Nests: United States east of the
Mississippi and Audubon Handbook: Eastern Birds
|
