Planet of Birds

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 7 abstract A comparison of the accuracy of different techniques for counting Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) nests suggests that aerial-visual estimates and aerial photographic counts provide reliable measures of colony size while minimizing disturbance to nesting herons. Additionally, post-nesting season ground counts of nests provide a suitable, […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 5 abstract Selection of an appropriate species isa key element of effective ecological risk assessments(ERA), especially when site-specific fieldstudies are to be employed. Great blue herons(GBH) possess several ideal characteristics of areceptor species for the assessment of bioaccumulativecompounds in the environment. Rita Marie Seston, Matthew John Zwiernik ET […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 9 abstract Encounters between predator and prey commonly leadto the death of the prey species; accidental deaths ofthe predator are believed to be relatively rare. Here wereport two cases of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)mortality involving the Pacific lamprey (Entosphenustridentata) in Alviso, California. BLAIR 0. WOLF and STEPHANIE […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 1 abstract Seventeen Great Blue Heronries were surveyed in nine counties of northeast Ohio during the1993 breeding season to determine nest site characteristics. Herons nested in 15 species of deciduoustrees, selecting the taller trees at each site. Crown integrity was not a requisite for tree usage; repaired(reoccupied) nests […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 1 abstract Seventeen Great Blue Heronries were surveyed in nine counties of northeast Ohio during the1993 breeding season to determine nest site characteristics. Herons nested in 15 species of deciduoustrees, selecting the taller trees at each site. Crown integrity was not a requisite for tree usage; repaired(reoccupied) nests […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 10 abstract Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias)typically prey upon fish and other aquatic organisms,and they occasionally take small mammals and birds.We observed a Great Blue Heron attack, kill, and attemptto consume an Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis).The heron was unable to swallow the grebe, andit abandoned the carcass after […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 12 abstract Surveys were conducted at 35 Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) colonies in urban and rural landscapes of south-coastal British Columbia, Canada, to investigate low nesting productivity during 1998 and 1999 compared to a decade ago. Nesting failure was common (59% of 1,247 nests) and widespread (in […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 13 abstract ‘Play’, including ‘practice’ aggression and foraging, has been reported in at least 14orders of birds (Fagen 1981), and is thus a widespread, if relatively rare, behavior amongbirds. I report here on observations of practice foraging behavior (considered a categoryof play) by a sub-adult Great Blue Heron […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 6 abstract On April 7, 2000, approximately 126,000 gallons of a mixture of #2 and #6 fuel oil were released froma break in a pipeline providing fuel to the Chalk Point Generating Station. The pipeline is owned by thePotomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) and operated by Support Terminal […]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Science Article 3 abstract This report describes the environmental contextand behavior of a single Great Blue Heron that repeatedly used plunging (Kushlan 1973a)as a foraging technique. STEVEN R . MOREY and ALLAN SMITS, Wilson Bull., 99(2), 1987, pp. 293-294 Download article download full text (pdf)