Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea
Patient and often motionless for minutes, the grey heron waits in shallow water before striking at lightning speed. In flight it holds its neck retracted in an S-shape – a useful way to tell it apart from storks and cranes.
- Group
- Moods
- Photos
- 2
- Taken
- 2024
Profile: Grey Heron
- Family
- Herons (Ardeidae)
- Size
- 84–102 cm
- Wingspan
- approx. 155–195 cm
- Weight
- approx. 1–2 kg
- Habitat
- Shallow margins of lakes, rivers and ditches as well as meadows and fields; it usually breeds in colonies in tall trees.
- Diet
- Mainly fish, plus mice, amphibians and large insects – often also caught in meadows.
- When to see
- Resident to short-distance migrant; in Central Europe it can be seen all year round.
Learn more: Wikipedia · NABU (German)