Their bodies are blue, with white bellies and red necks. Great blue herons' size (3.2 to 4.5 feet) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet) make them a joy to see in flight. All rights reserved. PART OF WILD SKY MEDIA | FAMILY & PARENTING, The Internet Bird Collection: Herons (Ardeidae), Roaring Fork Conservancy: Great Blue Heron, Birding Colorado: Over 180 Premier Birding Sites at 93 Locations: Hugh E. Kingery, Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Little Blue Heron, Animal Diversity Web; Nycticorax nycticorax: Alicia Ivory, Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Great blue herons (Ardea herodias) are large birds that stand up to 4 feet high and weigh up to 8 pounds, with a wingspan of 7 feet. They mainly inhabit marshes, rivers and estuaries, where they nest in trees or shrubs. This heron is also stocky, with a length of just over 2 feet, a wingspan of 3.8 feet and a weight just over 2 pounds. The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. Margot Freeman has been a writer since 2009. They can be found all over North America, with many migrating to Colorado in the spring, returning to the same nesting site year after year. Colorado Parks & Wildlife - Species Data - Great Blue Heron Historic Nest Area Colorado Parks and Wildlife Biologists, District Wildlife Managers, and Researchers. Colorado Great Blue Heron, this species usually breeds in colonies, in trees close to lakes or other wetlands like you see in this image. Often such colonies include only Great Blue Herons, sometimes they nest alongside other species of herons. Shape The World. Their diet consists of fish, amphibians and invertebrates, which they catch by stalking the prey in the water. The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is the world's most common heron, inhabiting large regions of North and Central America, as well as Europe, Asia and Africa, where they live in large wetlands. This latter heronry, the largest in Colorado, was abandoned recently after most of the cottonwoods used for nesting died. Photo © 2013, Gerhard Assenmacher, Learn about joining the Boulder County Audubon Society. Share This Watchable Wildlife Site! They have turned lodgepole pines along the Slate into a … These herons are social, monogamous birds who nest communally and will help raise heron chicks that are not their own. The head has a white face, cap and black crest. Due to human development and contamination of their nesting sites, great blue herons are a threatened species, with only 1,600 nesting pairs remaining in Colorado. They have a wingspan of up to 3 1/2 feet and are pure white when young; after one year their bodies and plumage turn deep blue. They can cruise at some 20 to 30 miles an hour. On the third day out we passed a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) lurking in the grasses and sand along the riverbank. Great Blue Heron: This large heron has a blue-gray back, black sides and a gray-and-white striped belly. – Status: Common summer resident and fairly common winter resident, primarily on the plains. Freeman holds a Bachelor of science in audio and media technology. They are not social birds, and pair up only to mate and nest. These herons live on a diet primarily consisting of fish, which they catch by wading into shallow waters and grabbing with their bills. – Populations: Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, Great Blue Herons nested in one large heronry in Boulder County, first at Crane Hollow, then at Sawhill Ponds, and finally along Boulder Creek east of 95th Street. There are 60 species of heron, six of which are native to Colorado, including the largest and most well known of these birds, the great blue heron. They have turned lodgepole pines along the Slate … Colorado great blue herons prefer wetlands such as marshes, swamps and riverbanks between 4,000 and 9,000 feet in elevation, and build their nests in deciduous trees at heights of 40 to 70 feet. Be Her Village. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History collection, COU:1111. It mainly feeds on small fish but will take a variety of foods. A Great Blue Heron fishing in the Colorado River. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keysis known as the great white heron. 2017). Empower Her. Rather than remaining in shallow waters to feed on fish and frogs, tricolored herons venture into relatively deep waters for their small size, so they appear to be swimming rather than wading. – Populations: Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, Great Blue Herons nested in one large heronry in Boulder County, first at Crane Hollow, then at Sawhill Ponds, and finally along Boulder Creek east of 95th Street. It is a rare vagrant to coastal Spain, the Azores, and areas of far southern Europe. Web Design by Floyd Dog Design, Boulder County Audubon Society, BCAS, Boulder Audubon Society, birding in Boulder, wildlife conservation, birding. Their coloring consists of black on their heads and upper backs, with grey wings and tails and lighter grey or white underbodies and black bills. Do Doves Return to the Same Nesting Places Each Year? Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers captured a Great Blue Heron that was injured. GBHeronHistoricNestArea is an ESRI SDE Feature Class showing Historic Nesting Areas for Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in Colorado.