- © G.Oleynik. Used with permission.
- a wingspan of 2.1 m (7 Ft)
The Great Blue Heron is the best known and most widely distributed of all North American herons. These large gray-blue birds with their long legs, necks, and bills are familiar sights throughout many parts of the United States as they stand silently and majestically in shallow water poised to launch at unsuspecting prey, or fly overhead with neck curled over their shoulders, long legs extended, and widespread wings slowly and gracefully beating.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
Breeding: coastal Alaska and southern Canada into south Mexico, West Indies, Galapagos Islands. Winter: southeast Alaska, south to Mexico, Central and South America, Caribbean. Year-round: California resident
- Amazing Facts
Great Blue Herons usually nest in areas relatively free of human disturbances. Such is not the case at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge in Seal Beach, California which is surrounded on three sides by human activities including housing tracts. Here in a busy narrow channel leading in and out of a marina, the year-round residential herons nest on navigation buoys on a 23 m (75 ft) open tower within sight and hearing of a major east-west highway, and in eucalyplus grooves next to office buildings and maintenance yards. While this is amazing, even more so is the fact that the herons return to the same nests year after year.
- At the Aquarium
The Great Blue Heron is illustrated on The Wave's mosaic tile mural, Rios de la Vida (Rivers of Life). The fountain, mural, and accompanying graphics illustrate the story of our Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. Although not on exhibit in the Aquarium, this bird is included in our website animal database to expand on the information touched on in The Wave fountain exhibit.