Long and lanky, great blue herons embrace stealth and speed while hunting for fish or frogs. Their patience is often rewarded with a quick strike, spearing fish that mistake the underwater legs for branches or poles stuck in the mud.

Widespread throughout their range which covers most of North America, these birds may be found in fresh or salt water environments.

Great blues are one of several colonial birds that occur in the Canyonlands region of southern Utah. Colonial refers to their habit of nesting in groups called rookeries, where pairs of birds may be small in number but have also been documented in other parts of the country to range into the hundreds. Their stick nests adorn the crowns of cottonwood trees or the rare cliff ledge.

In spring, the females lay a clutch of 1 to 6 pale blue eggs (their color scheme starts early!), which the adults take turns incubating for about a month. The eggs do not hatch at the same time, but rather a few days apart. Even when just hatchlings, the young herons have blue eyes. Gangly-looking, these young birds take between 7 to 11 weeks to reach the fledgling age.

During that time period, both adults hunt for fish, frogs, reptiles, small birds, rodents, crayfish, and large insects to feed themselves and their young.

When these long-legged wading birds take flight and give off a distinct warning croak, they seem prehistoric like some species out of the Age of Dinosaurs.

Though great blues are often observed along the Colorado, Green and San Juan rivers, they are also a common sight hunting in the Matheson Wetlands Preserve and out in agricultural fields feeding on rodents, grasshoppers, earthworms, and other prey. Year-round residents, the birds may move about in winter depending upon access to food.

Another species of heron that also nests in southern Utah is the black-crowned night heron, named for its black crown and habit of hunting at night. These birds also nest in rookeries of multiple nests congregated within a grove of trees.

Smaller than great blues, the night herons are shorter necked and stockier birds. Gray below and black above, these birds have distinct yellow legs and a dark, red eye. Their stout bills are designed for grasping prey such as fish or amphibians. Though these birds may be observed at one of their daytime roosts, they can also be identified at night by their call which is a flat, barky “quok!”

Along with the herons, there are a couple of species of egrets that migrate through southern Utah and nest in certain locations such as great egret, western cattle-egret and snowy egret. These birds are also types of wading birds with long legs and long bills. All of them are white in color, but the great egret is larger than the snowies or cattle egrets.

The great and snowy egrets utilize a similar hunting strategy to the great blue herons, stand around in a marshy area and feed on fish that swim too closely. The great egret is about a foot longer in length than the snowy egret and its bill is yellow in contrast to the darker bill of the snowy egret. In flight, the adult snowy egret’s dark legs end with yellow feet while the cattle egret has reddish legs and has a shorter bill.

Cattle egrets are named after their tendency to associate with livestock, perhaps to feed on insects which are present in the agricultural fields.

All of these species may nest in mixed rookeries. Back around the turn of the 19th century, these herons and egrets suffered huge population losses due to plume hunters who killed these birds for their feathers which fueled the millinery industry feeding the fashion of women’s hats adorned with the feathers. Unregulated, this plume trade eventually became known as the “murderous millinery” and led to early conservation efforts to protect birds and their habitats.
So, enjoy these now protected birds as they exhibit Zen-like patience when they forage for prey or perch in a tree.