Egrets, Herons, etc...

[Quivira]

Decided to make a topic on these guys.

Anyone love these stocky, long-legged birds? I sure do!

I saw tons of them while in Florida; they tend to like stealing your fish, along with the seagulls, pelicans, and cormorants.

Anyway, this topic will consist of the discussion of egrets, herons, and bitterns. (Excluding the Sun Bittern.)

More information on this family: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardeidae

[Sambhur]

Ahh, I love these guys, with their long necks~ It's quite interesting the way they just 'fold' their necks when flying. :L

I see quite a few of egrets and herons near where I live, probably because it's sort of close to a wetland. Even though when I do see them, it's wandering through tall grass. xD

[Kivia]

I see quite a few Great Blue Herons here- they fly over a lot when they go from the lake nearby to the forest. They're hard to miss. xD I usually see them in ponds by the side of the highways too.

Being in a state that's largely consisted of wetlands, it's quite the frequent site to see these kind of birds^^

[Katemarie123]

When I go to florida I just love watching these birds.Here are some categories of florida birds that I just love watching:Ducks,geese,swans,tropical birds,cormorants,pelicans,herons,spoonbills,parrots,egrets,cranes.Do you like to see these birds to?

[greatdragon108]

I see Great Blue Herons where I live, in Nova Scotia, where there is a lake just a short walk from my house. I love these birds, and I find them quite striking. I wish we could have sandhill cranes here, but the climate would probably be a problem and they would either become a problem and start invading like the Polygonum cuspidatum ( Japanese Knotweed) or completely die out. Not quite sure because i've never looked into it.

[PeltOfAsh]

Blue Herons, Lesser and Greater, Have always been a favorite bird of mine. In the park by my house there is a 150 year old tree, pine of some sort, and it has at least 5 heron nests. I often find skewered fish on the ground in the park.

[Kivia]

So I just remembered something that I always found fascinating about herons and egrets- their necks.

Take for example the green heron. It's like, how is that even real?
Also, bonus derp photo.

They are some pretty comical-looking birds.

[twinlinskis]

boy, am i familiar with these little buggers. we often have an issue with egrets and blue herons here because they tend to hover around our tiny little pond in our backyard-- as opposed to the HUGE pond just beyond the fence, like.... look at that.... there's so many fish in there man just go... just go and be a bird somewhere else-- and eat all of our fish! just recently we lost a few of our goldfish and one or two of our smaller koi. i can't say that i'm fond of them, but i won't say that i hate them either; they have to eat, and even though we don't very much like them coming to our tiny pond for a quick meal, we never really bother them or chase them off (unless the dog happens to be let out while they're out there fishing for goldies. then lily charges at them at full speed while barking her head off and drooling everywhere).

[Kivia]

Yeah your pond is probably a pretty easy place for them to fish sadly. =/ I'm sorry that they're being punks like that.

They be adapting, the lazy bums.

[Obedear]

I've seen herons around here. They fish in the creeks and ponds. I'm not very familiar with them in general, however.