Birdpass
English
Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Ardea cinerea

Identify the Grey Heron by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

  • Download on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play

The Grey Heron is a tall, long-legged wader found across temperate Europe and Asia and in parts of Africa. It hunts mostly aquatic prey by standing motionless at the water's edge or slowly stalking through the shallows before striking with its long, sharp bill. Most birds are resident, but northern populations migrate south in autumn. It usually nests in colonies high in trees near water.

Did you know?

  • In ancient Egypt the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron.
  • At a feast in 1465 celebrating a new Archbishop of York, 400 roast herons were served.

Voice

Flight call
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

A large, mainly grey heron with a white head and a bold black stripe from above the eye to a trailing crest. It has long legs and a long yellow-orange bill. The call is a hoarse croak. It flies with its neck folded, which separates it from the Common Crane, which flies with the neck outstretched.

Family

Ardeidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

grey, white, black, yellow, orange

About the habitat

Shallow margins of lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes, estuaries and sea coasts, as well as ditches and flooded fields; needs tall trees near water for its colonies.

Diet

Mainly fish about 10–25 cm long, but also amphibians, small mammals such as voles, crustaceans, reptiles and young birds, taken with a sudden stab of the bill.

Behaviour

A patient ambush hunter that wades or stands still before a rapid strike, often feeding alone. Flies with slow, deep wingbeats, the neck folded into an S and legs trailing. Breeds in colonies (heronries); both parents incubate for about 25 days and feed the young, which fledge at 7–8 weeks. The call is a harsh, croaking “fraank”, often heard at dusk.

Sources

Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grey heron 2022 03 18 01.jpg

Sound: Benoît Van Hecke, XC531166, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/531166

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC823689, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/823689

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_heron

See also