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Wesley's Backyard Birds
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| About three miles NW of us is a larger neighborhood lake where Great Blue Herons, along with other water fowl (Coots, Canadian Geese, several forms of ducks, etc) hang out year-round. On a regular basis a couple or so Herons will fly by on a path to somewhere. The Great Blue Heron is the largest and most widespread heron in North America. An all white form is found from southern Florida into the Caribbean, and used to be considered a separate species, the "Great White Heron." Although the Great Blue Heron eats primarily fish, it is adaptable and willing to eat other animals as well. Several studies have found that voles (mice) were a very important part of the diet, making up nearly half of what was fed to nestlings in Idaho. Occasionally a heron will choke to death trying to eat a fish that is too large to swallow. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly, helping to weed out the "sicklies". Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons. Great Blue Herons have an average life span of 15 years but more than half (69%) of the herons born in a year will die before they become one year old. |
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