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Grey Herons are unmistakeable – tall, with long legs, a long beak and grey, black and white feathering. They can stand with their neck stretched out, looking for food, or hunched down with their neck bent over their chest.
- Grey Heron
- Little Egret
- Bittern
- American Bittern
- Little Bittern
- Green Heron
- Squacco Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Great White Egret
The Grey heron is easily the UK’s most common heron, with an estimated breeding population of around 13,000 nests. Migrants from northern Europe boost breeding numbers, and the UK's wintering population is estimated at 63,000 birds. These powerful birds are tall, striking and intelligent. They’re patient hunters and can remain completely motionless...
Little egrets started wintering on the French Mediterranean coast in the mid-19th-century, and would return northwards and westwards to breed across central and northern Europe. Populations were first established in Normandy and Brittany before they started arriving on UK shores in around 1950. The Little egret’s small breeding colonies grew signif...
The Eurasian bittern is almost the opposite of the Egret; they’re small, compact, with a relatively thick neck and camouflaged brown plumage. The Eurasian bittern is the largest bittern and is found across much of central and eastern Europe and central and eastern Asia. The species usually migrate south to south Asia, Africa and the Indian Subconti...
The American bittern is a rare vagrant from North America. There have been fewer than 20 records of American bitterns in the UK. One of their more notable appearances occurred in 2020 at Carlton Marshes, Suffolk, where an American bittern sighting sparked an influx of 2,000 birdwatchers who wanted to catch a glimpse of this rare visitor. That was t...
The Little bittern was likely reasonably common in the UK but now breeds east of here in central, southern and eastern Europe and central Asia. Breeding pairs of the Little bittern were suspected at South Walsham Broad in the mid-19th-century, but it wasn’t until 1984 when three young were raised in South Yorkshire. In 2010, a pair of Little bitter...
A rare vagrant from North America, there are very few sightings of the Green heron in the UK. One of the most famous visits was recorded in 2010 at Pentewan, Cornwall yesterday, where it was sighted at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. A later sighting was made in 2018 at Llanmill, Pembrokeshire. The Green heron is a beautiful, photogenic heron that bre...
The Squacco heron of eastern and southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and south-central Asia is a very rare vagrant to the UK, where it’s been sighted some 271 times. A recent sighting was made in 2012 at WWT Welney reserve at the border of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
The Cattle egret is named as such because it lives near livestock and eats insects disturbed by the movement of cattle and other agricultural animals. This differs from the aquatic foraging behaviours of other herons. Cattle egrets breed in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia, which makes them one of the most widely distributed speci...
Another rare North American vagrant. The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) accepted a sighting at Balvicar, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on 5 November 2001. This is the only accepted record of this bird in the UK.
A large, elegant egret with an extra-long neck. These birds were rarely sighted before 2000, but in 2020, there were 8,000 reports, which hints at the possibility of reliable breeding populations. The Somerset Levels homed a confirmed breeding pair of Great White egrets in 2012. These birds are found primarily across southeast England and East Angl...
Living almost solely near coastal areas or freshwater, herons are expert hunters with a specialised diet, so what do herons eat? Herons are carnivorous, bordering on piscivorous, meaning they almost solely eat fish. Other common food choices include crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, molluscs, small mammals, small lizards and even small birds.
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 74 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus Botaurus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a ...
The heron is an easily recognised, grey-backed bird, with long legs, a long, white neck, bright yellow bill and a black eyestripe that continues as long, drooping feathers down the neck. Flies with its long legs stretched out, but its neck pulled in.
May 27, 2024 · The most common and prominent characteristic is its very long neck, crooked in the middle to resemble an S shape, which helps to support the heavy bill and head. When the heron takes flight, its head curves back against the body, and the feet dangle down. Few other birds fly in this manner.
Most Herons are wading birds, and feed primarily on aquatic creatures. They eat a variety of fish, crabs, shrimp, aquatic insects, frogs, worms, salamanders, and everything in between. Many species also hunt in drier areas, and feed on snakes, lizards, small birds, mice, rats, and more.
