From: David C.
Date: Sun, 7 May 1995 00:39:32 -0400
To: jmorton@mhs.mendocino.k12.ca.us
Subject: Questions

>This question comes from Bryce Poehlmann

Are Great Blue Herons precocial or altricial? (can they take of them of themselves when they are born?)

Dear Jessica and Class,

Hi Bryce! Great Blue Herons take care of their young until they are ready
to leave the nest.

For some heron background, the birds mate and nest in large groups known as
heronries. Most
species construct their loose, flat, platform-style nests high in the
branches of swamp trees.
Notable exceptions are the bitterns, which are solitary rather than
colonial, and place their nests
among reeds on the ground. Two to six pale blue eggs are laid in a clutch.
Most herons feed on
aquatic animal life, but some eat insects and even mice. Most species do not
stalk their prey but,
waiting in shallow water or on land, spear it with their long bills.
Today, while at Myakka State Park, we saw a Great Blue Heron eat an
amphibian called a Siren.
The siren was about seven to eight inches long. It almost looked too big
for the heron to eat, but
the heron carefully positioned the creature until it was lined up with it's
neck and then gulped it
right down! (Yummm) :-)

Twenty-two species of herons breed in the Americas. One of the best known is
the great blue
heron, which is widely distributed in North America and winters as far south
as northern South
America. This bird is about 117 cm (about 46 in) long and has a wingspan of
about 1.8 m (about
6 ft). Above it is bluish gray; the belly is black. Its head is white, with
a black stripe along the
sides of the crown; in the breeding season this stripe extends to elongated
black plumes. The neck
is gray, with a central line of black spots down the front edge. The bill is
dull yellowish and the
legs and feet are blackish. These birds are very common here in South
Florida, Bryce, and we see
them a lot. They are really neat to watch fly and wade.