This heron has an extremely small and rapidly declining population. The population will further decrease in the next few years. The loss and degradation of lowland forest and wetlands, hunting, egg collecting and disturbance are the mean reasons for this ongoing decline. This is a 127 cm very large, long-necked heron. In fact in the […]
Category: Ardeidae
The Story of the Heron and the digging of Wells.
When God had created the world, there were no springs or wells. The only water from which to satisfy the thirst of all the creatures was rain-water. After a time the rain was not enough to satisfy them all; the grass and trees were fading and withering, burnt up by the fiery heat of the […]
Bird stories, Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
The Bohemians declare that the heron warns men of their danger when lost in the marshes, and endeavours by her cry to lead them to a safe place. It is said in Ireland that small eels pass through the intestines of a, heron uninjured, so that it swallows the same individual several times in succession. […]
Bird stories, American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
Great American bittern has the power of emitting a light from its breast, equal to the light of a common torch, which illuminates the water so as to enable it to discover its prey. Ingersoll, Ernest, 1852-1946. Birds in legend, fable and folklore. New York, London Longmans, Green and co., 1923
The Little Blue Heron in California
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 4 abstract On 4 July 1976 William T. Everett, Curtis Stuteville and I discovered an adult Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) near the mouth of the New River at the south end of the Salton Sea, Imperial County. This bird was perching in an area of drowned trees […]
Aplomado Falcon Steals Prey From Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 2 abstract A juvenile male Aplomado Falcon (Falcofemoralis) was observed to steal crayfish(Cambarus diogenes) from Little Blue Herons (Egretta caerulea). Crayfish are not known tobe a common prey item of the Aplomado Falcon. To our knowledge this is the first instanceof piracy reported for this falcon. Falcons of […]
Predation as a selective force on foraging herons: effects of plumage color and flocking
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 6 abstract Experiments using model herons in natural mangrove habitats demonstrated that more hawks are attracted to white than to blue herons. Both Common Black-Hawks (Buteogalluas nthracinus) and crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) were observed preying on adult herons in Panama. Solitary herons were at greater risk than flocked foragers. […]
Notes on the plumages and generic status of the Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 3 abstract The juvenal plumage of the Little Blue Heron (Florida caerulea) has always been described as white with dull brownish gray tips to the primaries (Palmer, 1962: 428, and earlier authors). In September 1962, when Dickermanw as collectingb lood specimensfr om nestling h rons in a large […]
Influence of plumage colour on prey response:does habitat alter heron crypsis to prey?
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 5 abstract The foraging strategies of wading birds may be influenced by their degree of crypsis to aquatic prey. Whiteplumage has been hypothesized to be adaptive for herons hunting in open water habitats. We tested thishypothesis with laboratory and field experiments with multiple prey species.We investigated the responseof […]
Breeding biology of the little blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) in southeastern Brazil.
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Science Article 1 abstract The breeding biology of Little Blue Herons (Egretta caerulea) nesting in Santos-Cubatao, southeastern Brazil, was studied during the 1997 (75 monitored nests) and 1998 (65 nests) breeding seasons in one colony (Saboo River), and during the 1997 season (58 nests) in another colony nearby (Morrao River). […]