Great Blue Heron

Description:

Photo take in a mangrove area near the coast. It has head-to-tail length of 97–137 cm , a wingspan of 167-201 cm a height of 115–138 cm and a weight of 2.1–3.3 kg. Notable features include slaty flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like; it also has plumes on the lower back at the start of the breeding season. The bill is dull yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the lower legs gray, also becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season. Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, and the flank pattern only weakly defined; they have no plumes, and the bill is dull gray-yellow. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 43–48 cm , the tail is 15.2–19 cm, the culmen is 13.1–15.2 cm and the tarsus is 15.7–21 cm .

Habitat:

Common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands.

Notes:

The call is a harsh croak. The heron is most vocal during the breeding season, but will call occasionally at any time of the year in territorial disputes or if disturbed. Wikipedia.