Characteristics
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is one of about 60 species of herons in the world. All Great Blue Herons have the same general shape öf long neck with a sharp bill, long legs, rounded wings, and feather plumes on the chest, belly and back. Beneath the contour feathers of the flanks are powder down feathers that herons crumble with the fine nibbling motions of the bill and spread throughout the plumage. An all white subspecies of Great Blue Heron (A. h. occidentalis) resides in southern Florida and the Caribbean known colloquially as the Great White Heron.
Characteristics during copulation
The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America weighing about 2 to 2.5 kilograms. The sexes are indistinguishable by plumage, but most males are 5-15% larger than female. The bills of males of the Pacific Great Blue Heron (A. h. fannini) in British Columbia range between 129 and 146 millimetres and females range from 112 to 131 millimetres. Plumages are a useful clue to the age of herons. Adults have white crown feathers and a jet black eye stripe that extends behind the head into a plume. There is much variation in facial markings of adults and it might be a useful identification feature of individuals. The bill is long and pointed. For most of the year, the upper mandible is a slate grey colour and the lower mandible is yellow-orange. However, during copulation and egg laying, the upper bill becomes noticeably brighter yellow-orange. This feature is a useful clue to the breeding state of individual herons. Iris colour is yellow and bare skin is marine blue and white. The back and wing coverts are slate grey blue, and the primary flight feathers are black.. A black flank creates what looks like an Îepauletâ near the bend of the folded wing. The herons legs are covered in scales that are dark brown on the leading edge and greenish yellow below.
Characteristics of newly hatched heron
The transformation from newly hatched chick to fledged young is a remarkable make over. In two months a 50-gram chick attains 2 kilograms, learns to fly on a 2 meter wingspan, becomes fully plumaged, and grows a 130 millimetre long bill. A newly hatched heron is nearly nearly naked except for a few sparse patches of whitish down on its back, wings and sides, and a bushy patch on its crown. They begin to call within minutes of hatching. By six days they are preening themselves, and they stagger to their feet in two weeks. They flap their wings at about 4 weeks of age and make short hops between limbs at 7 weeks. In the two months that a young heron is in the nest, it will grow to the size of its parent and it will become fully feathered. The fledgling heron's crown is grey, it lacks the plumes of the parent, and the feathers along the neck are brownish rather than black and grey. The feather tips of the wing are chestnut brown and in flight, the leading edge of the wing has a white spot that resembles a Îheadlightâ. A few stringy feathers above the eye disappear soon after the young leave the nest. A young heron will wear this plumage through the winter and slowly replace it, as it becomes an adult at two years of age. By about 6 months of age, a small white crown patch will appear on some individuals. A few short plumes will appear in its first spring when a juvenile becomes a yearling. A few brownish tipped feathers of the wing still show on some individuals into their second year and when they become adults.