Nature Stock Photography - Great Blue Heron Photography

Nature Stock Photography Library - The Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, common all over North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos, except in deserts and high mountains where there is no water for it to wade in. It is very similar to the European Grey Heron. This is the largest North American heron. This species usually breeds in colonies in trees close to lakes or other wetlands, often with other species of herons. These groups are called heronry (many people say "rookery", but that term actually refers to colonies of other birds, not herons). It builds a bulky stick nest. The female lays 3 to 5 pale blue eggs. Both parents feed the young at the nest by regurgitating food.