Flight of the Heron - 365-117
by Inge Riis McDonald
Title
Flight of the Heron - 365-117
Artist
Inge Riis McDonald
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Digital Art
Description
Many Canadians are familiar with the sight of this beautiful, tall, and graceful wading bird. With long wings, thin legs and a short tail, the Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, is the biggest heron species in North America. It has blue and grey plumage combined with a black stripe that extends from its eyes to the back of the head. It is easy to identify this large bird fishing along shorelines and even in suburban ponds. The fannini subspecies is actually smaller and slightly darker in coloration when compared to the Great Blue Heron (herodias subspecies) in the rest of North America.
This subspecies lives year round on the Pacific Coast and mostly breeds in the Strait of Georgia. During this time, the fannini gathers in colonies for courtship, nesting and rearing its young in large platform-like stick nests usually situated high in trees. Less than two chicks from an average of four eggs will fledge, and less than 25% of juveniles survive their first winter.
The Great Blue Heron fannini subspecies typically hunts a wide selection of animals, but concentrates on small fish during its breeding season. In the winter months it will switch to a diet that includes small mammals.
Source: Nature Canada
Uploaded
July 2nd, 2016
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