A Heron Nest in Venango County

Have you ever hiked along the edge of a quiet stream or marsh and startled a big, long-legged bird that flapped slowly out of the water, leaving only a widening ripple? Chances are good that the bird was a heron.

There are about 60 species of herons distributed over most of the world, except in the extreme northern and southern regions. Herons are most common in the tropics. Herons, bitterns and egrets are closely related, belonging to the family Ardeidae of the order Ciconiiformes . Other close avian relatives include storks, ibises, spoonbills and flamingos. Herons are wading birds with long, slender legs, long necks and long, heavy bills tapering to a sharp point. Their wings are broad and rounded, their tails short. Most herons, especially the larger ones, are graceful in form and movement.

Herons are predators, feeding on animal life (fish, frogs, crayfish, snakes, insects, invertebrates and small rodents) found in shallow water and along the shoreline. Herons swallow food whole and later regurgitate pellets of indigestible matter. They inhabit both freshwater and saltwater areas. In Pennsylvania, they're found on lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, woods streams, bogs, marshes and swamps, where they typically stand at the water's edge or walk slowly through the shallows. They may also perch in trees near or over water.

Text courtesy Pennsylvania Game Commission. John Karian's photo of a nest-full of two or three-month old great blue herons was photographed at dawn in a Sycamore tree thicket alongside a swamp, adjacent to Sandy Creek, in Venango county. There are about 11 different nests in this particular "rookery." The great blue heron is a large species with a wing span of approximately 2 meters (6+ feet).

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