The Gray Heron is the Old World counterpart to North America's Great Blue Heron. Their native range includes much of Europe, much of Asia except for the far northeast, and sub-saharan Africa. In North America, they are very rare vagrants, with most sightings in the southeast Caribbean islands, but also with sightings in the islands in the Bering Sea off of western Alaska.
Habitat
The Gray Heron inhabits a wide variety of freshwater and coastal wetlands, including marshes, lakes, rivers, ponds, estuaries, mudflats, and shallow coastal lagoons. It prefers areas with shallow water where it can wade while hunting fish and other aquatic prey. The species also frequents reservoirs, canals, flooded fields, and urban parks with suitable wetlands throughout much of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Diet
Feeds on a wide variety of creatures, both aquatic and terrestrial. Fish are preferred food item, but they also will feed on amphibians, snakes and other small reptiles, small rodents, crustaceans, mollusks, large insects, and small birds.
Behavior
Usually a relatively passive feeder, standing motionless in shallow water, waiting for prey to approach. When prey is in range, they strike with a thrust of the neck, impaling prey with their bill or grabbing it with their bill.
Nesting
Colonial nester, Gray Herons build large platform nests of sticks or wetland vegetation such as reeds. The nest is usually placed in trees, dense bushes, or thick wetland vegetation, but occasionally on the ground. The female usually lays between 3 and 7 eggs, and both parents help to incubate them. When the eggs hatch, both parents help feed the young, with one parent typically on site at all times to protect the chicks. The young remain in the nest for nearly two months.
Song
The Gray Heron is generally a quiet bird but gives loud, harsh, croaking calls, often described as a deep kraak, especially when disturbed or in flight. Around breeding colonies, adults produce a variety of grating calls during courtship, territorial disputes, and interactions at the nest. Chicks also make persistent begging calls while awaiting food from their parents.
Migration
In their Eurasian range, birds in the northern part of their breeding range are migratory, while some populations in more temperate and sub-tropical habitats are permanent residents.
Interactive eBird Map
Click here to access an interactive eBird map of Gray Heron sightings
Similar Species
Very similar to North America's Great Blue Heron. The Gray Heron is slightly smaller and paler than the Great Blue Heron, with a cleaner gray body, white head, and a bold black stripe extending into a long crest. Great Blue Herons have a richer blue-gray overall color, chestnut thighs, and more extensive rufous coloration on the neck. In North America, any large gray heron with the classic white-faced, black-crested appearance should be carefully evaluated as a potential Gray Heron, particularly along the Atlantic coast where rare vagrants have occurred.
Conservation Status
The Gray Heron is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because of its extensive range across Europe, Asia, and Africa and its large, stable population. The species remains common in a wide variety of wetland habitats, although some local populations are affected by wetland loss, pollution, and human disturbance. Overall, it is not currently considered globally threatened.
Further Information
Photo Information
Photo taken by Craig Adam - September 17th, 2012 - South Africa - Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License
