Best time to see: all year
Key facts
Large grey and white heron with long neck and bill
Habitat: freshwater margins, marshes and occasionally gardens, visiting in search of goldfish in ponds
Widespread and common resident
Recognition
Large heron with grey, black and white plumage, yellow dagger-like bill and large wings; 90 cm
Wades or stands still by water's edge, spearing fish, amphibians, small mammals and, very occasionally, birds
Flight very laboured and floppy with legs outstretched
Lifecycle
Nest colonially in heronries – once these are established birds return to the same site year after year
Courtship begins with a dance in which the male stretched its neck up and over its back with the bill pointing up
Nest is a large platform of twigs high in trees; one brood of 3-5 pale greenish-blue eggs, February – April
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© David Harrison
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© unknown
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© Ken Wooldridge